Micro-Blog-a-Thon

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Eclipse!!!!

Or is that eClipse? Perhaps iClipse? Definitely not. There WAS a lunar eclipse tonight, and if you missed it, then you missed out bigtime... By far one of the most meaningful events of my day, I assume that it is a sign of some sort--possibly a bad omen--but in all likelihood a beacon of good news from "the heavens"... So I'm eagerly awaiting finding out that I won the lottery or discovering an original copy of the Declaration of Independence in the closet in my apartment. Or, I would even settle for not having to scrape my car windows in the morning.

Too bad I'm not superstitious. (Though I am pretty convinced that the medical school is haunted)

Well, enjoy your day. I know I did.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Guess who passed Neuroscience?

If you guessed me, you were right. We got our final grades for that class today. Actually everyone in my class passed. So there you have it. I guess we succeeded. But of course we've moved on to the wonderful world of Physiology now, and forgotten all about Neuroscience.

Personally, I'm looking forward to this summer (yes, we do get a summer break, although this is the only year). No classes for a couple months is gonna be nice. Also, I got into this "Hospital Medical Education" program that the Indiana State Medical Association sets up with different hospitals around the state. So I'll be here in South Bend "working" (aka watching and learning) in a hospital for 8 weeks. They say the goal of the program is to expose you to as much of the diversity of medicine as possible, which I think will be good. Basically you get to learn some things and see what you might like to do down the road, and get paid to do it.

Well anyway, that's really all I have to write. It was just another long day of studying. Nothing to write home about. Well, there was a lot of ice on the inside of my windshield when I leaving school to come home tonight. But that's about the most exciting thing that happened.

Friday, February 8, 2008

My First Patient

For me, today was that big day in the life of any medical student when I met my first patient. Ok, so all I did was take a history, but it was big a big day for me. Obviously I can't say anything about this patient (HIPAA, your secrets are safe with me!), but I probably can tell you what I experienced.
First, I didn't totally know until this afternoon that I was going to be taking a real history today (its a part of my Intro to Clinical Medicine class, and the schedule for that is one of the great mysteries of the universe). Second--and probably more important--I've never done a history before, and also, I hadn't really ever been taught how to do it.
So, you can imagine my fear and trepidation (actually fear may be a bit of a strong word, but you get the point). In the end though, it did all work out. Everybody in my class met over at the hospital, in their auditorium, and there we got a crash course in history taking from our (crazy Italian) instructor. Seriously, it was less than an hour. But it really was a good lesson, because after that we went up to one of the wards and took patient histories, and for the record, I think I did quite well.
To be honest, it was a little nerve-wracking just walking in to a total stranger's room and basically saying "please tell me everything about your life", but it ended up alright. Turns out all you have to do is ask questions and listen...
After taking the history, the next step was to learn how to present a history. So we went back down to the auditorium, and got another crash course on that, and then I had to present my patient's history to one of the residents that was helping teach us. Apparently I did alright. Actually, all in all it was a real good experience. Not necessarily the the easiest thing I've ever done, but I think I did alright for my first time, and with practice I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

In other news, I have a joke for you all... So, G, A# and D walk into a bar, and say to the bartender, "We want some drinks." But then the bartender says, "We don't serve minors here."

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

At it again

That's right, yours truly is putting his nose back to the ol' grindstone. (talk about the mother of all cliches! oh well.)

This Monday I took the final exam for Neuroscience (a lab test and a National Board of Medical Examiners "Shelf" exam) and after that I was greeted with the whole day of Tuesday off!! Which was great. I slept in (didn't even set my alarm), did laundry, cleaned, went grocery shopping--things that normal people do... So that was good. Of course I really don't know how the tests went, but I am confident that I passed. So now on to Physiology!!!

In other news, Saturday was a big day. The St. Joe County Public Library has a program every year called "Science Alive!" for kids. Basically the library has a whole bunch of science-related exhibitors come and set up exhibits and then basically every kid in the 25 mile radius comes and learns about science. (Well, that sounds kind of lame but stay with me) Anyway the medical school had an exhibit (I was on the planning committee... no big deal though) where we had the kids go through a "mini-medical school" experience. The got to dress up like doctors, play 'Guess the Organ', learn all about why to never, ever smoke (and play with a GIANT cigarette model), and learn about the 'tools of the trade'. I think it loses something in the telling, but it actually was pretty sweet, and (a mark of success) there wasn't any time during the day when our station was empty. Anyway, I think it was success.

On another note, I hope everyone enjoyed Super Tuesday yesterday. I know I did, which is good, because I missed most of the Super Bowl due to studying for my final. Our boy Ron may not have won any states, but he DID get 3 delegates out of West Virginia. Of course probably the best news out of the whole deal is that they didn't decide everything yesterday. So maybe (I know this is a stretch), maybe our votes here in Indiana will end up meaning something...

So there you have it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (another cliche... oh no--but also a good song)

I hope you all enjoy my egregious use of punctuation. And the word 'egregious'.