One Week

One week. That's all that separates me from being done with my first class in medical school. However, as a part of that week, I have to spend a ton of time getting ready to take the National Discipline Exam. It is great fun. So far today, I have looked at pictures in Gray's Anatomy for about 6 hours, and I have reached page 419!
This is probably a good place to point out, for those who don't know, that before Gray's Anatomy was a popular TV show, it was a world-famous Anatomy textbook. Just thought I'd drop some knowledge on ya. I guess not everyone knows that. I think they spell "Gray's" differently though. maybe with an "e". But I don't feel like looking it up, cause that's not important. And even though NOBODY else was thinking this (even though they have similar names), Gray's was NOT written Gandalf the Grey of Lord of the Rings fame. He's not even real... Although I have to believe that guy would be a great anatomist given the opportunity.
So that about sums it all up... in all seriousness, though, I really am looking forward to getting this class done with. It's been hard, and even though I've enjoyed some parts of it, it will be great to get this monkey off my back (if you will).

In an aside, the GFS flag football Blue League better look out, cause I got my cleats now. MBA students, you have been warned... lol, just kidding, I'm having a hard time believing we'll win any games... but you never know.

What time is it when the clock strikes 13?

At what point does studying become excessive? I think today may have reached that point. As it is now almost 3 in the morning, and I just got home from school, I think I can safely say that. However, what if it seems like nothing has 'sunk in'? Isn't that a bad thing? My test is tomorrow afternoon, with the Gross Anatomy National Discipline Exam to follow next Friday. I hope that the 7 weeks of studying has actually prepared me to take a test that puts my knowledge up against that of people who will have spent an entire semester studying it... can you say "rushed"? I can.
Not that it won't be great to have Gross Anatomy out of the way... its the one medical school class that EVERYONE knows about, and that I've been fearful of for about 5 years. To be honest, its been just as hard as I thought it would be. Just a LOT shorter. But again, it'll all be over in about a week! Unless I fail it, and have to remediate over the summer... that would be fun... not.

In a sidenote, the year that I buy season tickets to Notre Dame football games WOULD be the year they start out 0-4... Not that I'm a huge fan, but yeah, its probably more fun to watch a good team than an awful one.

It 'Dens' Here

Today was eerily similar to most every other day in the last week or so. Nothing too exciting. But, what you should probably be aware of are anatomy jokes. "What does that mean," you ask? Well, anatomy jokes are basically like regular jokes, but about anatomy. Dens jokes, fundifom jokes, hypogastric spray jokes, really almost anything. How in the world are those things funny? Well, I think its a combination of the inhalation of too many fumes in the lab and sleep deprivation that make almost anything hysterical. I've been making jokes about stuff I never dreamed of laughing at even a few short weeks ago. And also, other people are laughing with me and making jokes of their own!

Long Monday...

As it turns out, its a little bit weird to spend almost all of you time with the same 15 or so people. That's pretty much what has been going on in my life (give or take time not spent at school). To be honest, its not all bad, but in some ways, I feel like I'm losing touch with the rest of the world. I suppose that's life. But it is nice to actually talk to "normal" people every once in a while--not that that ever happens...
Today was Monday (maybe you knew that--its the best day of the week...). Weekend is over, an time to get back to studying. Boring stuff, but only 3 more weeks of anatomy! Quick recap of the weekend for ya: Friday night--went to a 'barbecue' after my exam. Saturday--woke up ~12. Went to laundromat for about 4 hours. By that time it was time for dinner. That's about all I did on Saturday. Sunday--finally went to church. Grace Church in Granger. It was cool. It was good to be at church again. Then I came home, did some studying, and then went and got my hair cut. Just for the record, Greatclips ain't got nothing on Gary's Barber Shop.

So yeah. Weekend was good. Long Monday, not so great, but not bad either. Long Tuesday's coming up though.

Weekend

Earlier today, I had an exam. What that really means is that this is a REAL weekend! Nevermind how I did on the test, I don't have anything hanging over my head for Monday. It's almost like being normal again...

Anyway, not a whole lot to write down, but its pretty sweet.

NPR

I think I'm finally getting used to my life now. I'm kind of getting to know how to get around the city, I'm kind of used to my schedule, and kind of getting a handle on school, and my apartment. Of course I'm busy, but you know, everybody's busy with something, and mine just happens to be school right now.

I was listening to the radio while I was driving to and from school (several times), and they were playing some interviews and sound bytes of people who had some connection to the 9/11 attacks. It was strange to hear some of those news-casts again, 6 years later, and think about what really happened. I guess it was more sad than strange. And then to think about what has happened since then, well, I'm sure everyone has similar thoughts about it.
That's something nobody really wants to relive, but I'm sure nobody would want to forget it either.

Well, its almost time for another exam! Friday. Not good. I did good on the quiz this week, but I don't know that that means a whole lot. I guess I'll have to study more. I spent a couple hours in the lab tonight. Hope it pays off.

Day 21

Today has been another Monday. I'm halfway done with gross anatomy! Which is good. I went jogging today, and realized I'm pretty well out of shape. I hadn't jogged since, maybe, a week ago Thursday. Anyway, I finished my route, but I was pretty tired afterwards.

So I was tired. Then I went to the school to do some reading. Well, I guess I was just tired, and not really liking reading too much. So I fell asleep in my chair for like an hour. Then this other guy came in and said something to me, and I got so startled I about had a heart attack. Yeah, that was pretty crazy.

So, yeah, this here post is turning out to be pretty boring. I guess it was a good day, there just isn't that much unique to write about.

It's like bringing a knife to a gunfight

Today was Sunday. More studying all day, and I still feel like I got nowhere. No worries though, I just have a quiz tomorrow morning... I think if someone was to ask me how I felt about studying anatomy, I would say that when I study anatomy, it's like bringing a knife to a gunfight. It's just hard.

On the positive side of life, canine rabies has been eliminated from the US (recently announced). So, booyah. I think you can still get it from bats though. Which kind of sucks, cause a couple of weeks ago there was a bat flying around in my apartment. So maybe I have rabies now... That wouldn't be fun. I can still drink water though, so probably not. Anyways... That's about all I've got to say. Sianara

Sober Moment

Earlier today, I had what you might call a sober moment. That is, of course, if I were an alcoholic. As it is, I'm a med student, and it was more of a "why am I so stressed about this stuff?" moment. I was driving over to the school for a "make-up" lecture session that my professor was gonna do for the four of us that went to see surgeries on Friday and missed lecture, and I just thought to myself, "Hey, why aren't you happier right now? There's no reason not to be." Well, there really wasn't. Or isn't. I mean, I've got a lot of stuff to do, but isn't this what I signed up for? Anyway, I was a lot happier after that. It may sound like something really small to all excited about, but it was really an epiphany for me (of sorts).

Adventures in the Laboratory

Well, it's been another long day of studying at the ol' IUSM-SB. Probably about 5-7 hours in lab, and some others in lecture/Team Based Learning (read: waste of time). Its been a long, day, and really the only thing on my mind is sleeping, and the fact that I have not yet learned what I need to learn.

Good news, though, I was in the lab tonight, and some of us were looking around at structures and things, and my professor, Dr. Dave, walks in, and pulls three of us out of the room (we're all three in the same lab group with one other guy), and says that he wants to let us go to see these operations that are going to be happening on Friday, on the areas of the body we're learning about right now. So, I guess I get to go observe an operation on Friday instead of go to lecture. Which is cool, cause I don't really like lecture, but I think I'll be able to learn a ton from seeing an operation done, especially now that I've got some kind of background (and I've seen operations in the past and they were sweet).

Alright, well in closing, let me tell you a story:

In a small village, there was a donkey. And one day the donkey got chased by a coyote, and it ran so fast, and couldn't see where it was going, and see where the coyote was at the same time, and so it fell into a well. Well, the villagers tried to rescue the donkey, but to no avail. Unfortunately, the donkey's braying and struggling were very loud, and so to end the donkeys misery, the villagers decided to fill in the well around the donkey. But this donkey was no jackass. With every shovelful of dirt the villagers threw in, she would climb up just a little bit higher. And higher, and higher, and higher, until finally, the villagers had filled up the well. The donkey was on level ground, and she just walked away, unharmed, but for a few bumps and bruises from the fall.

Dissection, or Dissec-FUN?

Today, I really got into my dissection. I really enjoyed it. I can't say that I know everything perfectly, but I got to trace some nerves and things, and--though that may sound boring, or strange--I really liked it. It just gave me a sense of competence. In this case, it was following nerves that I was trying to do. But some other time, maybe it will be something else. It is hard to explain what I was feeling, but it was good.

So, I know that I passed my "wet" lab exam, but I don't know how I did on my written multiple choice exam yet. I do know, however, that the class average was a 66%. Passing is 70%, so... yeah, probably most of us failed. But we shall see.

So, as I was driving home tonight, it occurred to me just how close to school I live, and how great that is. It's really just a 5 minute drive. I walked to the football game this weekend, and that took me past the medical school building, and it took me about 25 minutes to walk there from home. It's great.

Alright, well, its time for bed, and hopefully I'll have more crazy dreams (I've been having really crazy dreams recently, in case anyone cares).

The Labor Day that wasn't

Earlier today I went jet-skiing for the first time ever. It was pretty sweet. This girl in my class's family has a lake house on Lake Tippecanoe, so a couple of us went down there and hung out this afternoon. But as you know, all breaks come to an end, and even though most of America is celebrating Labor Day tomorrow, I'm going to class. So I've spent all evening and night studying. Fun times.
I've thought more about my exam on Friday, and I really don't know whether or not I passed. I'm somewhat optimistic, but not TOO optimistic. Now, we were talking about our anatomy class with this girl's dad who's an orthopedic surgeon, and he seemed to think that having an ER doctor as our teacher instead of a professional Anatomist (i.e., somebody with a PhD in Anatomy) wasn't good. I don't know, but I do know that we don't have real lectures (which is probably the way I learn best), and our last test was insanely hard.

Now, its the weekend

Earlier today was the day of my first anatomy exam. The schedule is set up so that we have exams of Fridays, leaving us the weekend to do... whatever we want. Which is great. Anyway, the test was hard. Easily the hardest test I've had, it seemed to make no difference that I had spent hours and hours reading and learning, in the lab (until 3am last night), and thinking about almost nothing else. Imagine walking in off the street, sitting down, and taking an algebra test without ever studying for it--that's just about what I felt like.

But, at least I wasn't the only one who thought that. After the exam, everybody in my class stood around for awhile outside the school and just complained about it. So at least that made me feel like I wasn't the only one who didn't do amazing. I guess that's a good thing. Anyways, after the test, we all went out. And as much as I'd like to say we didn't even think about school, I'll be honest, we ended up talking about it quite a bit.

In closing, in approximately 12 hours, I will be attending the Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech football game. Booya.