Week 7

March 7, 2014

Going into midterm week...that means I have been here going on 8 weeks. Two months. 60 days. A lot of hours.

Wow. 

Med school so far is like a roller coaster...first the magnitude of the ups and downs experienced on a daily basis is huge-and while the ups and downs continue everyday thereafter, their magnitude lessens  little by little. 

Yesterday was a good day. 

Started the day out early in the lab-found my visiting professor and stuck with him all morning.  

Initially spent the morning reviewing just the abdomen-repetition is the key to success here. Some people say it takes them 1000 times to finally get something-it seems to take me 1000 &1. 

Took a 15 minute break for coffee and corn-it was all I made time to ingest because I wanted to return to the lab quickly. Pathetic, I know. 

Returned to the lab and finished the abdomen. Feeling good about this topic (I am getting my questions right so I know this tactile learning is paying off.)  

Had a one on one session with the professor on autonomics of the abdomen-which REALLY helped. During our session, other students came to ask him to demonstrate things on the cadavers to them, but he declined because he was teaching me and I really appreciated this. He said that he wanted me to understand the autonomics and based on the fact that I had come in every day and spent hours with him over the past few weeks, he would not blow me off to go teach the others. 

Stayed in the lab an extra half hour after it was closed to finish reviewing the brachial plexus and forearm structures. I FINALLY began to see this area as a structured area as opposed to the bowl of spaghetti that it usually looks like. (Prime example of the "1" in 1001" )

Ended the lab session on a great note and after having been in the lab all morning, I said goodbye to the amazing visiting anatomy professor from Harvard and felt like most of my learning thus far is a direct reflection of his excellent teaching. 

Spent the remainder of the day reviewing and getting questions right-finally!!!!!!!!! 

Woke up today, did anatomy questions with a friend. I used to avoid these questions-but after getting through that initial painful phase of forcing myself to do something I didn’t want to do-I now know the benefit in doing them.

Went to the lab this afternoon-this was awesome! I was the ONLY one there and a mixture of enrique iglesias and maroon 5 music was playing....so that was cool! Some classmates met with me to review  over the bodies together. Just before going to the lab-I put on my scrubs and just about threw up because they stunk so awfully of formaldehyde. I was literally in my room gagging while getting dressed. (But hey-that is a sign I am putting in my lab time!-It is also a sign that they must be washed asap!) 

Spent a few minutes  enjoying the sunshine while sitting on the dock and reviewed the brachial plexus again. 

Trying to keep a positive state of mind going into midterm week and pushing myself to learn in a dense and efficient way in a timely manner. I am finally thinking things through in a manner that shows understanding of the stuff I have studied and am thankful for this-It is still hard-but progress is progress even if I feel like the turtle racing against a rabbit. 

Regardless of how I do on the test this week, I want to get through it. This experience is a lot like running-I started really slow, but my endurance has progressed over time and now I keep running… and it feels good. :) 

-M.H-