Huh.

So apparently it was warmer in Chicago today than it was in Miami.

Well that was interesting

So I finally completed the female exam this past weekend. I have to say, it wasn't nearly as good as the male exam. Not that I am passing judgement on anybody's parts or anything, it's just that this time I had to go in with a couple of guys I didn't know, it took a lot longer, and there was no "Yay!"-ing after we completed different portions of the exam. No, this time we had a standardized patient who was really tired and kept telling us to wake her up if she fell asleep, and a hippy-ish older woman directing us on how to perform the exam. She totally seemed like she would of been at home in a pair of birkenstocks, and when one of the guys asked her about painkillers during childbirth, I could tell it was a struggle for her not to go off on a tangent about how it was bad for the baby, and not natural, and so on (not that I have a problem with childbirth either way - I say do whatever you're comfortable with - it just wasn't an appropriate time to discuss it, what with the standardized patient falling asleep in the stirrups and all). Add to that a couple of guys who seemed really nervous, and one who was practicing his bi-manual exam technique in the corner, and it was an interesting morning.

It's weird though. I talked to someone afterwards, and we both agreed that you go in, you try to act as professional as possible, you immediately get over seeing some stranger's naughty bits, you do your thing, and then you leave,and it's not until after you leave that you look back and think, "I just DID that? I just did THAT! What the hell?!"

Wow.

That actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Even thinking about it now is worse than the actual event. It helped that our standardized patient was the same guy in all the online videos we watched last year to learn the head-to-toe exam, so it was kind of like learning with an old friend! And old friend who is now in the flesh, and in the buff!

It also helped that we worked in groups of three, and I got to go in with some pretty kick ass girls, A and N. There were lots of "yays!" and "oh, that's what it feels like!" and there may have even been some happy dancing when we each completed the exam. Our standardized patient cheered right along with us, and was totally awesome at making us feel comfortable and at ease, even when his cell phone alarm went off right as A was about to start the prostate exam. That was slightly awkward, but we all laughed it off and joked that it was actually a buzzer because A failed.

Now on to the female exam in a couple of weeks!

Pray for me

Because tomorrow morning I will have to do what I have been dreading all year long. The male exam.

That's right. Testicle, hernia, rectal, and prostate, bright and early tomorrow morning. All on a kindly standardized patient who gets paid to have med students touch his junk.

Stay tuned...horror stories to follow.

Or perhaps anesthesiology?

Hmmm...surgery doesn't sound so bad

All Dogs Go To Heaven

RIP my sweet Maxie. I already miss you terribly.

What's going on with this Medicare cut?

Check out Happy's post here.

Ready, set, go!

My apartment is clean, my taxes are done, and my freezer is stocked with Costco goods. I am ready for the next term. It just so happens this will be my last term of classes before starting rotations. Now that is a scary thought. Come July I will be hitting the hospitals and caring for patients. Yikes. To be honest, it still doesn't even feel like I'm really in medical school. I mean, yeah, I'm in school, and working my butt off, but it doesn't feel like how I thought it would feel. My school is a little different. Our main campus is outside of the city and does not have a teaching hospital on the grounds like most other schools. Sure, there is the VA hospital next door, but it's not the same. So, because of this, I feel my medical school education has been different from those who attend other medical schools. You don't see clinicians walking around in their white coats, getting pages and rushing off to see patients. Not that there is anything wrong with this. In fact a lot of my professors write board review books, and my school is known for its students getting good board scores and great residency placements. But it still doesn't feel like how I thought it would feel. So this change coming in July is pretty huge. Not just because I'll be in the hospital, but because I think I'll finally feel like I am truly in medical school.

It's exciting, but I also kind of want to pee my pants.

Done!

Take THAT Pharmacology......hiii-yaaa!


Now where is that beer? :)

A quick peak into hell week

Also known as finals week.

I've had 3 exams already this week, one taken on only 2.5 hours of sleep. We'll see how that one turns out!

Last but not least is Pharmacology. The bane of my existence. It's just a lot of memorization, and trying to remember random drugs with silly little tricks like...

Topiramate. For generalized, partial, and other seizures. It reminds me of America's Next TOP Model. Hmm...models. Weight loss and reduced cognitive ability. Oh, those just happen to be the side effects of TOPiramate! Ha!

This is my desk currently. It doesn't look so bad.



But you can't see the crap I've got spread out on the kitchen table, the couch, the coffee table...

And here are my flash cards.




There's a lot of them. A lot. Look how far up they come next to that pretty little bottle of beer (my treat for tomorrow night when I am done).

And they don't have just one or a few words on the back. They are all packed full of information I need to know. For tomorrow. At 9am. So I better stop blogging and start cramming!

What a wild life I lead

I ventured out of my building for the first time since Friday! It would have been exciting, except it was only to walk to school and take a final. Oh well.

Back into my little study cave until my next exam tomorrow morning. It's gonna be a long night folks.

V Day

Happy Valentine's Day Mom and Dad! Love and miss you both!

Another Saturday spent studying

One of the things a lot of people don't understand about med school, or any other ridiculously rigorous academic program, is the amount of studying you have to put in to know the material. Sure, everyone is all happy and excited and proud to hear you are on this journey, but when you tell them you can't do this or can't do that because you have to study, they just kind of don't believe you. They ask, "well can't you just do it tomorrow?" Um, no, because tomorrow I have another 8 hours of studying other stuff I have to do.

Not that this is directed at any one person. I mean I probably didn't really know what I was getting myself into before starting. I don't think anyone really knows until you are in the middle of it. So here I am, in the middle, not doing much of anything except studying. Incredibly boring, but totally required. So don't get mad if my posts become less frequent and less interesting, m'kay?

Plus the whole Step 1 business coming up. Yikes. Let's not dwell on that.

So life is pretty much the same. Get up, go to class, do some studying, fit in some meetings, more studying, and when I need a break, I'll put something on Netflix while I flip through flash cards or tab my notes for quick reference.

But I think I found a roommate for next year! And sometimes, just sometimes, I'll browse Craigslist for apartments in the city, dreaming of a more exciting life during rotations next year.

I guess this med school thing is for reals now...

Doomsday. June 5th. Just scheduled Step 1. Eeeek!