I live for the weekend...

This morning we had our Gross Practice Practical. It went really well - I was quite pleased. I need a little more work on my identifying nerves vs arteries, but the rest was good to go.

After lab, I went to try out Berry Berry Good Yogurt. Best idea ever. Best place ever. I'm hooked.

Fat free, sugar free, low calorie - guilt free. 12 flavors and you build your own. My choice today was cheesecake with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries :):)

It's been a great day. Time to study biochem.

Week... three?

The days are already starting to blur. Today we started small group bible study, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of my favorite parts of the week. Dr H is wonderful (kudos to the M2's and up who recommended the study).

Biochem is still biochem, but this block is better. It makes more sense and I'm a lot happier with the professor.

I still like learning Gross and Developmental Anat... the tests are going to be heck, but Rohen's and the Moore book are my second bibles these days. So far, I'm doing better at identifying the structures than identifying what they do. Ah. It'll come :)

Ummm... other than that, yeah, life's pretty much study study study. I will NOT get discouraged. God brought me here and He will bring me through it. Every day I wake up, I'm thankful for the opportunity I have - to whine, moan, complain, and spend entirely too much time studying.

Thank you, God. I can't wait to serve you as a physician :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, nothing says you're an M1 like spending your birthday in the gross anatomy lab...

PIG was so much fun yesterday. Dr. C. is awesome. K and I are both gonna be M1 reps for this year and I'm excited about that. Sounds like a lot of baking and playing with kids - both of which I love :)

Genetics is a treat in and of itself. These powerpoints are insanely long, and its so depressing/non-motivating that the class counts like 1.4% of our final grade.

My family is coming into town tonight! So excited!

Hope everyone has a great weekend...

I PASSED!

I passed my biochem test and owned the histology one :) Yay for first tests being out of the way!

PIG tomorrow. Couldn't be more excited.

Met my cadaver yesterday. She's skinny. Very, very skinny. We also received a box of bones, which I promptly had my lab partner take home. Human bones in my house are just a little creepy at this time.

With all that was going on yesterday, preparing for the tests, I didn't have time to do the reading for Gross... and Gross (this block at least) is going to be an adventure, considering that our lecturer has one of the thickest accents ever. Yay for hours of wasted time sitting there listening, then more hours of coming home and memorizing.

Anyway, I had to share my celebration. Back to the grind! :)

Yay for a new week!

I'm feeling much better about last week's material and excited to start anew for several reasons:

CMDA on Tuesday at lunch, be there....
PIG on Thursday at lunch - come nominate yours truly and K for M1 reps! BabyDocs FTW! I'm so pumped....
There's that birthday thing on Friday :) ...


Gross Anatomy starts this week. That's a combination excitement/dread.

Then there's that test thing on Wed that I'm not quite so excited about. But it'll be over soon.

Yeah, it's gonna be a great week.

One week down... 36 to go :)

The end of the week finally came! It was an amazing ride this week, learning lots of neat stuff... even when it's something really boring, it's cool to see it all put together in a big picture. And oh, what bliss there is to 64 hours of no new material! I finally had a chance to get through all of it... and it's not nearly as intimidating as it seemed. The biochem is definitely more intense than the histo, but it's almost all do-able (I've yet to get all the math problems down... stupid math).

Of course, Dr. Hawaiian Shirt still has a few lectures to give on Monday... But it's all good. I'm not there yet, but I know I'm on my way... Bring it, first test!

(Just wait til Wed, please :))

In other news, we'll be starting Gross on Tuesday. That will be an interesting turn of events. Kind-of hoping I get assigned to group B so I'm not dissecting on my birthday... But, the way things normally go, I'll be knee deep in formalin for 4 hours. And my family can enjoy the smell of it over dinner, because I've heard that showers don't necessarily rid you of the odor.

Yes - that's right. The family's coming to town next weekend and I cannot wait. Yay for birthdays!

(And now, back to biochemistry...)

Med school 101

The first week is going pretty well. It's a lot of material, but I'm hanging in there... I've gotten a schedule down pretty well and I'm keeping my head above water. Just keep swimming right? One day at a time...

I got CPR trained yesterday. My trainer commented that my infant technique was the best she'd seen in a long time. Hmm... wonder why.... With the adults, on the other hand, I had to get on a stool (so I'll be the doc riding through the hall , hovering over the patient's chest to do compressions on them...). Nonetheless, i'm all clear so if you happen to cardiac arrest with me there, I'm ready, willing, and (practically) able.

So far, biochem is the suck and histo is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

That's my med-school-in-three-minutes overview. I'll try to post again this weekend. First test: a week from today!

Here goes: day one..

Tomorrow morning we begin the journey. I've printed the powerpoints and done all the assigned reading... and indeed, like everyone said, it's a LOT. But I'm going in with the "I can do" attitude and setting up the routine.

Apparently, pre-reading (or skimming) the material, going to lecture, and the post-reading is the method most people seem to think is most helpful. I've used this method in the past and it worked, so we're going to keep it up. I can't bring myself to try to take notes on the powerpoints just yet - ask me again tomorrow night. For now, I'm killing trees and printing it all. (Yes, it's a lot of trees.. but its my printer, my ink, and paper that's already been made). I'll be taking notes the old-fashioned way tomorrow. It sticks better when I write it, so I'll have to figure out a good hybrid of writing/typing that is most efficient.

We have a CMDA dinner/meet and greet tonight at 6 that I'm really looking forward to. Should be a great chance to meet people along the same wavelength as me and establish a good faith support system.

One time, in med school orientation...

So far, I've learned...
1) Orientation is incredibly boring and long-winded
2) Everyone really wants us to succeed, which is nice. The scaring the pants off of us has been kept to a minimum.
3) I am entitled to, and now own, the infamous white coat. It was an absolutely WONDERFUL evening - one that I will never forget. For indeed it was in that moment that I married this career and set forward on my journey.

Tomorrow is 8-1 and then we have been sufficiently oriented and are free to begin class. Monday morning. 8 am. See ya there.

Favorites, new and old..

Jackson isn't so bad. For example, there's a NY&Co and Victoria's Secret almost within walking distance from my house. Then there's this fabulous restaurant called the "Corner Bakery" that I could eat three meals a day at.

I can't believe school starts on Tuesday. It's absolutely insane to watch your dreams come true in front of your eyes. Meeting up with my M2 buddy for dinner tomorrow night, which should be a good nerve-stabilizer the night before orientation begins.

On a sour note, the internet on my cellular device has decided not to work this weekend. I probably need to do a "tower update" for the new area... I have to do them every year or so, but always forget to write down the instructions. I emailed CellSouth (hate going there when it isn't necessary), but it's Sunday, soo....

I think I'll try to find the mall tomorrow avoiding I-55. Good times.

Oh yeah, and for those of you following: Med school starts in 41 hours.