Can vacation go on forever?

I'm finally beginning to feel caught up on sleep, family, and friends. For the first time in a long time, I feel like ME again. All the things first semester tried to change or take away have been renewed, and I'm ready, willing, and able to go at it again for five more months. Or I will be after next week.

Talked to Dr. C today, and did better on the Biochem board than expected. Eases my grade worries, and assures me that there'll be no more biochem in my life until Step 1 studying, and then NEVER AGAIN (in the classroom format at least).

Hope everyone's having an AMAZING break. I know I am. Read two real books today and watched two bowl games. NFL: Vikings and Bears up next. Go Bears! Since the Saints aren't showing their best side these days, we're looking for a little help from the Chicago club to help us clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

As this is my med school blog, I find it important to share that I've done absolutely nothing school related since that biochem board on Dec 18th. And I will continue that plight, full speed ahead, for about another 6 days. I'll devote part of Sunday to preparing for going back Monday morning. But until then... life is easy. For the first time in a long time. And I'm IN LOVE with it!

Congrats to all my friends who are now officially M1.5's. We made it!

Just another week in the life of an M1

Things are plugging along here in M1 world. One week and one day until the last regular biochem test. Then "just" a comprehensive final and boards to go. BTW, any of my M2-M4 buddies have any boards tips? (I need all the help I can get on that one).

Yesterday we had a very easy day lecture-wise, and I returned to the NICU for rounds with Dr. K and her residents. I have to tell you guys, she's just the most compassionate, caring attending... definitely giving me a possible false impression of the rest of them... ha! She asked me a few questions, but didn't pimp anyone. I'm glad I did my research so I didn't look like an idiot in front of the residents, but it wasn't intimidating at all. Best of everything, we got to tell a Mom her baby can finally go home! Those are the stories that make the specialty so worth it.

Blackboard has finally decided to work, so I suppose I'll learn a little about the eye (blech) before I go up to the histo lab. However, it's 39 degrees this morning and all I'm thinking about is Christmas break.... (hence the new background).

Praises: My friend Lacey is home from MN and doing great! Her surgery went beautiful and her recovery continues to be a blessing.
Continued Prayers: As always, the NICU babies (I left my heart with them), friends, family, and unspokens. And an uneventful end to biochem!

Amazing week-end turns into amazing weekend!

Friday's biochem test turned out much, much better than I was hoping for. Pleased to see one of my higher grades in the class so far! Only 3 more tests (one regular, comp final, and boards) until the world of biochem goes away for a while...(until Step 1 prep)

The rest of yesterday was pretty darn good as well... and then today I went to JFC for the first time. What a ministry! I was in awe of the privilege I was given and the gratitude of the patients. My first blood draws went great - must run in the family. Mom's a great stick :)

Football today = amazing, as of replays and what I can gather. Hotty Toddy! Looking forward to a Saints victory tomorrow as well.

For the rest of the weekend, I'm getting my gross on. Weren't things much easier when we were kids and the bone of the head was the "skull"? Yeah, not so much anymore...

I've also got to do my research for Rounds in the NICU monday. Looking forward to a self-made long weekend :)

This is why I press on...

Friday in the NICU was like coming home... I realized, after much too long of an absence, that I was indeed back where I belonged. Not only is God doing great things in my life now, He's continuing to prepare the way for me to show His love and blessings to those in need. There's something about watching a 500 gram baby cling to life that leaves me awestruck at His creation everytime. Even on the littlest ones, the sickest ones, those with birth defects or infection - the absolute PERFECTION of His plan is amazing. Tiny fingers, tiny toes, tiny eyelashes. It's every bit perfect. And these angels, whether sent to us for a short time and then called Home or sent here to defy the odds - absolutely make my journey worth it every single day.

In boring, med school related news, Friday's phys test went just fine. Biochem is this Friday. I'm seeking redemption following the metabolism (older med students will recognize this as the "Dr. W & Dr. H test") disaster. I've tried a few new techniques this time... and although I'd jump for joy at a really GOOD grade, passing will make me happy. Biochem is OVER in less than 37 days, praise the Lord!

Plugging along...

Things are status quo here in M1 year. We've entered the "point of no return", the October slump. We've got test behind test, two and three a week, for the next thirty days. Lord, pull me through. Help me lean on you!

PIG today - I made cupcakes with Winnie the Pooh (and PIGlet too) cupcake holders. I love PIG.
Bible study is still amazing. Dr. H is wonderful.

Besides that, I guess life as an M1 is pretty boring to the general public, but I'll keep y'all posted :)

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.

Book list & Insurance...

Today I got the book list - met up with K at the bookstore, that was kind-of fun and unexpected. We were both ISBN and good price searching. Seems to have worked out well. Haven't ordered a lot b/c I'm going to meet with my buddy first and see her recommendations. I did order a few essentials, and I picked up my DISSECTION KIT!!! at the bookstore. (Sorry, getting a bit excited here). Funny thing is - the dissection kit doesn't seem very complex... I keep wondering how in the HECK these tiny hemostats are going to be good for anything.

Tomorrow morning I report to the VA for some kind of fun fingerprinting of sorts. Should be entertaining if nothing else.

11 days til orientation!!