It's Been a While

Whew I really haven't been very good at updating this blog! I'll try to do better.

With exams coming in two weeks things are starting to heat up again around here. All the classes seem to love to pile on the lecture material just before the exam - which is kinda rough. Anatomy has slowed down quite a bit fortunately, we have our last dissection (male/female reproductive tracts) on Friday. I was a little put out when I heard that we wouldn't be actually dissecting the head and neck in January-February and we would just be looking at already-dissected cadavers that the teachers and 4th years already did in advance. With my background with Operation Smile and my interest in that part of the body, it was a little disappointing. I was really happy when our anatomy teacher told us that we could volunteer to help dissect that portion if we wanted (on our time) next semester - I'll definitely be taking advantage of that opportunity!

We had been warned that Biochem was going to get rough about this time with Amino Acid metabolism, and boy was that accurate. The material is pretty indepth and doesn't have a whole lot of connection to what we have already done - so there is a TON of learning needed on my part. I was completely lost during lecture today - I'll be taking a lot of time to get this stuff straight by the exam. Since CTS is going over stuff I'm already familiar with (eyes and ears thanks to a Bio class I had last year), I'll be putting that aside for now. It also helps that the vast majority of that exam comes from the practice quizzes - awesome.

I've decided it's about time I start to jump on the shadowing train to get some exposure to some of the stuff I'm interested in. We have about 2 or 3 different presentations at lunch a week about the different specialties in medicine. So far the best I've seen were the Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics, ENT, and Plastic Surgery (today) talks. It also seems like I'm not the only one who has gotten this idea as many people are trying to get in touch with these doctors - I'm sure a few of them (like the pediatric surgery attending here) are deluged with e-mails! I'll try and do what I can now to get in touch with them. I may have to use some of my connections back at the Beach for some other not-so-obvious options and connections to get some time in here.

A theme of many of these talks has been the importance of research. All of these specialties seem to be pretty competitive, and they have all stressed how important it is. Fortunately the research doesn't have to be in a particular field, it's more of just having the experience and the connection formed with the physician running the experiment. It definitely is looking like I'll be spending my summer here or (maybe) back home doing something. A friend up here enlightened me of some possibilities back at the Beach as well. Good thing I don't have to worry about that until January/February!

Halloween up here lived up to my undergraduate experience and then some - I went as Indiana Jones. I didn't have any luck finding the lost ark of the covenant, or the lost offense of the UVA football team either. Definitely had a great time at the med school's Halloween party - great turnout! Well that's enough for now, I've got to hit the Biochem again!

Elevation

U2 was absolutely incredible. Maybe when I figure out how to upload pictures to this thing, I'll put one up. The stage was unbelievable - it was an open stage (can see from all sides of the stadium) that looked like a giant claw. It was quite the scene - the lights and video screen really drove it home. I don't think I've ever seen Scott Stadium as crazy as during "The City of Blinding Lights." Maybe when we rushed the field against Florida State 4 years ago... but probably not.

Exams ended up last week, I was really surprised with my performance. Actually, the class as a whole did amazing - everyone I talked to is really happy with how they did. So starting this week we have part 2 of the semester that runs until Thanksgiving.

It's been a great 2.5 week break from the Anatomy lab, but tomorrow morning we're back at it. Today group A took off the chest of our cadaver using Stryker saws and rib cutters... sounds like something out of a horror movie. Tomorrow we get to cut out the heart and open it up and explore - that should be quite the wake up call tomorrow at 8 AM!

Our football team finally recorded a win somehow this past Saturday - and our defense actually looked good (or UNC's offense is that bad). Homecoming is this weekend - wouldn't it be nice if we could keep the momentum going by getting a home win against Indiana? Hopefully it's not a pipe dream!

Where the Wind Blows

Quick post today - through 2 exams and have the last one tomorrow (CTS). Pretty happy that the vast majority of the test comes from the practice quizzes online since I really haven't had time to go over it much before yesterday's Biochem exam. The catch? There are 15 lectures on this exam, and each lecture's practice quiz has at least 30 and some have over 70 QUESTIONS!!! And most of them are "which statement is false/true?" My point - they take forever.

The first 2 exams I think went pretty well - the work I put in for Anatomy and Biochem really paid off. I was pretty tired after the 120-question Biochem midterm though.

After a solid 10-14 days of studying, I'm pretty excited about getting a break! Going home this weekend should be pretty relaxing - plus rescue is always a good time.

Finally - U2 comes to town tonight! Many of my med school buddies bought tickets but are skipping out because of tomorrow's exam. U2 is playing at Scott Stadium today - and they only have stadium shows here once every 4 years. Seeing the Rolling Stones 4 years ago was a once in a lifetime deal, I think U2 could even be better (hopefully no bomb threats this time!). Back to the grind - I'll be pretty excited this time tomorrow when I'm done!

Defcon 3

It's been a while, it's been tough to "find time" to update the blog. This week is going to be a rough one - midterm exam time. Anatomy (written multiple choice and practical "pinable structures" in the lab) on monday, Biochem on wednesday, and CTS on friday. Plus, U2 is coming to town Thursday night. Good thing almost all of the CTS exam comes straight from the practice quizzes (but there are tons and tons of questions per lecture - one had over 70!!!).

My birthday was last Wednesday - didn't get too crazy with all the work I had to do but I was able to go out and have a little bit of fun. Each year I am so surprised at the people who come out of the woodwork to write on my wall to wish me a happy birthday. It really makes you appreciate all the different people you've met along the way - and it's been awesome to get to know such a wide variety with all of the things I've done. Definitely pretty special!

Despite my best efforts to stay ahead of the material, I still can't believe how much we need to know for these exams. Many people are especially concerned about the anatomy practical - we have to go into the lab with a sheet of paper (NO multiple choice here!) and they pin a structure on the cadaver and say for example ("identify" or "what nerve innervates this" or "gives 2 actions of this muscle"). It gets especially tricky with joints (and bones of the hand/foot - yikes.....), you have to be pretty specific. "Flexion of the arm" gets me nowhere - I have to specify between the "elbow" and the "glenohumeral" joint (shoulder). The many similar names also get a bit confusing (see supraspinatus muscle and suprascapular nerve, and thoracoacromial artery/thoracodorsal nerve). On the positive side, they only pin structures where it can reasonably be identified by nearby landmarks. I'll be going in to the lab tomorrow at 9 AM (no sleeping in for this guy!) to do a full review - I hope it goes well!!!

Interspersing my other classes while studying for anatomy has been tough... I might not get a ton of sleep tonight :( But then again, it's the rest 2 nights before the main event that matters most, so I probably won't be up too late!! I'll check in again after this Anatomy exam! Good thing it's all just straight pass/fail!!

Kids

I'll try to update more frequently - tough to find time! Class attendance has started to drop off a bit - I guess people would rather sleep in and watch the lecture online (via podcasts posted online) at a more convenient time. It sounds like a good idea, but who am I fooling - I don't have near the discipline to sit down for an hour and watch a lecture online. Plus, it would be pretty easy to be anti-social and never see anyone by just never showing up to class. We have another biochem quiz this week - lots of information on it, but I'm not super worried.

I've dubbed this week in Anatomy the dreaded "quad" week - 4 labs in one week. Group A does labs 9 and 11 on Monday and Thursday, while Group B (that's me) does 10 and 12 on Tuesday and Friday. Yep, we're responsible for all of it. Don't even get me started on how Group A never has Friday lab (so they often get Fridays completely off!!) It's pretty rough, but fortunately this is the only week like this. Our lab director told our group 2 weeks ago that this is the toughest few weeks we will have in anatomy - apparently it slows down considerably after the first exam. Exams are in 2 weeks, I'm curious to see how people cope with the challenge. Could be entertaining! I've been working reasonably hard to keep up with the material to avoid cramming for the exams - not that it would be really possible anyway (at least for Anatomy and Biochem) given the unbelievable amount of information covered. We're already through Lecture 23 in Biochem - where has the time gone??

UVA football continues to redefine pathetic - one of my favorite sports writers Mike Wilbon referred to the ACC as "stinky" and to UVA specifically as the "captain of stink." Pretty accurate - Cav Man falling off his horse to start Saturday's game pretty much summed up the state of UVA football. Enough on that.

Finally, CONGRATS to Allison and John having their first child (and my 2nd nephew), Jack! I CAN'T WAIT to meet him over Fall Break in 3 weeks! Speaking of which, I need to get his present pronto! That's all I have for now, more later.

Already Gone

The title pretty much sums up the UVA football season. Done before it even started. As a long-time Wahoo fan and avid football fan, I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I am. Every year we have high hopes for the team, and everyone involved talks up the team and how strong it will be, but starting off losing to a Division I-AA school in William and Mary (and not a top D I-AA school either!) really doesn't bode well for the season. 7 turnovers - are you kidding me? It was unbelievable. I can't believe that was many of my classmates' first glimpse into UVA athletics - who will want to go to games now? On the bright side, I had a great turnout for the tailgate I ran before the game and it was awesome to see some of my undergraduate friends as well! In other football news, we learned this week about separated shoulders in anatomy, which is exactly what happened to OU's Sam Bradford on Saturday night. It was cool to see a real-life example of something we learned!

Last Wednesday I started my Social Issues in Medicine (SIM) community service at a center for at-risk teens. We spent about an hour total playing basketball - my total ineptness at least kept the teens pretty entertained. All in all, I had fun and it was nice to have a break from the wire-to-wire studying.

On Thursday we were "thrown into the fire" so to speak as we had our first hospital interviews with real patients. We were paired off and each of us talked to a patient and gathered their history for about 30 minutes. A few of my classmates reported some difficulty establishing a good relationship with the patient - it made me think back to how I had the same issues starting off as a fresh EMT 4 years ago. We do not spend 30 minutes talking to patients in EMS though, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much my patient opened up about his past and his feelings about his illness. It was definitely a powerful experience. I'm looking forward to helping some of my classmates interview people - it's definitely something you have to do often to become comfortable with.

Spent pretty much all day today reviewing anatomy, and went into the lab this evening to review some of the structures. I was surprised at how many of the parts I could identify correctly! We move to the hand and the legs this week - I'll definitely need to do my best to keep up!

September

Whew, it's been quite a week so far and I'm not even through Wednesday! In Anatomy Lab we have two groups, and typically each group will do a separate lab during their times. What does that mean? Yesterday during lab, we had to go over what the other group did on Monday as well as do our own dissection of the arm and forearm. 2 labs in one day was really, really tough. Plus we were introduced to the lovely difference between nerves and arteries. Yeah, not only do we need to know the muscles (telling the coracobrachialis and the brachialis apart, and then finding the musculocuaneous nerve!), but also the nerves that innervate them. It was rough, plus having 10+ muscles in the forearm to deal with was also interesting, to say the least. In sum: after 4.5 hours in the lab, we were all very ready to go home!

With our first online quizzes in CTS and Biochem things are starting to heat up around here (while the mornings have been getting pretty chilly), I cannot wait to be done with them on Friday! This weekend should be a blast - opening football game vs. William & Mary!

Each medical student is placed out in the community for "Social Issues in Medicine," which I start officially late today. I'll have more to say about that tomorrow.

Congrats to my sister and brother for both finding a house! Should be interesting to have all these families within about a half mile of my parents. I know they looked pretty much forever for places, so I'm sure they're excited. Well, back to work. Look for more tomorrow.

The First Cut is the Deepest

Probably a weak title, but yesterday we began dissecting our cadaver! We had to expose (on one side of the back) the extrinsic and instrinsic muscles of the back. Cutting is the easy part - the hard (and hugely time consuming) part is "cleaning" the muscles afterwards of fat attached to it so we can have a good look at it. Some cadavers in the lab literally have skin then muscle, we weren't so lucky! It took us about 2 hours to get most of the fat off (we were dissecting from the neck all the way down to the lower back), but at least the anatomy professors kept walking by commenting "beautiful dissection" and "really superb job!" All 4 people in my group got plenty of time with the scalpel - doing this stuff kinda got old after a while!

We were in lab a total of 4 hours yesterday - by the end we were all pretty set on going home. 8 - 5 is a pretty long day, especially since class in the morning is so intense. Having anatomy lab in the afternoons will definitely make Tuesdays a long one! Everyone was pretty exhausted afterwards - a nap was just what the doctor ordered!

Rocked the embryology quiz - and so did everyone else! Almost 100 out of 144 got over a 90 on the 25 question quiz. That's pretty intense... We'll see how long those grades keep up!

Since I'm in Anatomy group "B" I have the day off ("A" is in the lab today), but I'll be spending most of my time in the library.

Rainy Weekend - Umbrella

The first week of real classes is over. Whew, what a whirlwind. I'm sure I've said it before, but the sheer amount of information we are given in such a short time (50 minute lectures) really is incredible. A common quote here is "trying to get a drink of water out of a gushing fire hydrant." I can see that Anatomy will definitely need some attention on my part - the vocabulary and subtleties involved get pretty complex.

Some of the terminology (especially gross anatomical terms like prone, midsaggital plane, anterior/posterior) I am familiar with because of my EMT training. I am very grateful for this, because I can see that some of my classmates will struggle with these terms. In Anatomy, you can't say "look at that muscle above the belly button" or "that artery is closer to the shoulder." Good terminology would be "look at that muscle anterior to the umbilicus" or "that artery is just lateral to the shoulder." At this point, I'll take whatever leg up I can get!

A large group of first and second year medical students went tubing down the James River yesterday - everyone was having a great time until the skies opened up on us. Then the thunder and lightning came, and we had to seek shelter on the shore, probably 2 miles away from the end of our trip. We all got pretty cold (after all, we didn't have much of anything that was dry), and some girls' lips even started to turn blue. Those girls got first priority at the little bit of shelter we found under an abandoned house. The sign near us marking "Trigger Happy Lane" wasn't too reassuring either - we laughed at comments about horror movies. Thankfully, a man came out to us from his RV and said he would call the tubing company to pick us up. That was really nice - we would really have been in a tough spot without his help!! Still, we all had a blast.

Last night I saw the Girl Talk free concert at John Paul Jones (Basketball arena) - UVA put it on to celebrate first year (undergraduate) move-in day. It is just one guy who mixes between 3-5 songs together in a hybrid. Really pretty amazing - his "Jump" (Van Halen) and "Shout" mix was a hit.

Tomorrow we have our first quiz in Embryology. Some of my friends are really getting nervous about it. I am pretty grateful that the first 2 years are all pass/fail. Getting a 70% and getting a 95% get you the same result - a Pass. That takes a huge load off of the pressure, and everyone is working pretty well together to help each other out. Plus, this quiz is only 5% of our Anatomy grade (our 2 CTS exams are about 35-40% each!!) A classmate of mine already sent out flash cards with the learning objectives and answers. Well, back to the grind. I'll let you know how the class does!

The Hip Bone's Connected to the... Sacrum?

Yeah - title's a bad anatomy joke. Sorry, I'll try to get more clever.

Yesterday we started Cells and Tissue Structure (CTS). Talk about a rough 2 hours. The lecturer moved pretty fast through some "basic" material involving sequestration and post-translational modification of secreted proteins. That's quite a mouthful, and something that I wasn't too good with back when I saw a brief overview of it in undergrad bio. Also doesn't help that my cellular biology knowledge is basically non-existent (at least compared to some of my classmates). Darn you Econ major! Guess I'll have to work a bit harder...

Today we got to have our first time in the anatomy lab. Funny aside - we have to wear some sort of eye protection in the lab, and I forgot my goggles. Good thing they have extras, because my partner and I literally were ready to wear sunglasses as our eye protection. At least I would have been stylish in the lab. Our cadaver isn't as large as I thought - although washing it head to toe took quite a while.

The amount of information being thrown at us can definitely be viewed as a bit overwhelming. It's looking like I'll have to hit up the library (which is much nicer than the undergrad ones!) after class to do some review of the day's material. I'm definitely not alone there, but I'm definitely not used to having to do this much work. I want to try to stay with it as much as I can, it would probably be pretty bad if I fell behind. Speaking of which, I need to review CTS and biochem for tomorrow. More later.

Start of "Foundations of Medicine" - Thunder Road

Woke up (for once) with a good night of sleep under my belt. Turns out I would need it, today was a long one. I arrived at my cubby at 8 AM to find a TON of stuff, including this bad boy to the left. I know it's tough to see, but this tome represents 1 semester's worth of Biochemistry notes. How generous of them. Oh, I also found our Cells and Tissue Structure (CTS) lectures similarly bound as well as a packet for Anatomy entitled "Human Embryology & Developmental Biology." That last sucker is 77 pages of very condensed and intense material. Oh, and that's only 1 weeks worth of Anatomy notes. Looks like I was right about hitting the ground running.

Fortunately, the first half (8-12) of class today was devoted mostly to syllabus/outline things for biochem and Practice of Medicine (POM, developing interviewing/exam skills in small groups). Note to self: 4 cups of coffee is a bad choice - I was ready to jump out of my skin when we were discussing empathy during POM. Maybe just keep it to 1 cup for tomorrow. Not so much the case with anatomy this afternoon. After lunch (where, despite my attempt to be healthy, the sandwich person put about 100 pieces of bacon on my BLT) and a brief intro to anatomy, we got a quick overview of the actual anatomy lab. Our cadavers were already there (closed up of course), and the place had quite the pungent smell. I've been advised to not wear contacts in the lab - apparently formaldehyde can sink into them. Ouch, and gross.

Lastly, 2 hours of very intense work reviewing the first 3 weeks of embryo development (gamete development --> gametogenesis for you science types). Talk about whirlwind - our anatomy prof doesn't mess around. My roommate informed me we did in 2 hours what he did in 2 weeks in his upper-level embryology course. Great.

So, to summarize my classes this semester: Biochem, CTS (starts tomorrow), "Clinical Anatomy & Medical Imaging," and POM. Talk about jumping down the rabbit hole...

Still enjoying most of it though! More tomorrow...

White Coat Greatness!

This week we finished up our intro to Medical School class - "Cells to Society." Nothing too interesting to report there.

Yesterday we had our white coat ceremony. The family came up to celebrate with me! The ceremony took quite a while (144 names take a while to read), so I had some time to reflect what the white coat means to me personally. I think it symbolizes clearly what my life has been leading to for the past few years. It represents something of a commitment to the betterment of others, and working to help alleviate other people's struggles. This past summer, a close friend told me to always be mindful of past experiences and mentors who have helped me along the way - I am only so strong as these factors. The white coat is a visible and concrete reminder of this fact, and it is something I will absolutely take into the future.

I'm definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend - something of the calm before the storm. Biochemistry and Anatomy start right away on Monday. From what I hear, we hit the ground running and go right into some pretty intense material! The real game beings Monday!

Wednesday - I Gotta Feeling

The past few days have been much more jam-packed than the first day!

Yesterday served more as an Orientation - we learned all about the Honor Council, UJC, etc... There are tons and tons of student groups that spoke - seems that the Medical School here has some super-involved people. A definite "highlight" was the director of Student Health predicting a "very large" outbreak of Swine Flu to occur once the Undergrads come back for the Fall Semester. How comforting. The good news? Medical Students will be at the top of the list to get the swine flu vaccine (but I would hope I would be in the category anyway as an EMS provider?).

Today we had our first "patient contact" and had to dress accordingly - professional attire. This week from Wednesday to Friday we have an introduction to Medical School called "Cells to Society" which focuses on Diabetes. Today we were told all about Diabetes from the molecular level and its systemic effects all the way to the growing concerns over a global pandemic of the disorder. It really does appear to be a major problem going into the future.

A patient came in front of the entire medical school class and was interviewed by an internist as a demonstration of how to properly engage the patient and what to ask/look for in an interview. Very interesting, since the questions he asked and his overall repore he built with the patient really was unlike anything I have experienced as an emergency medical provider. We split up into small groups for the afternoon (9 people with 3 mentors including a clinician, a cell biologist, and a chaplain) and we interviewed another patient ourselves. I thoroughly enjoyed this last part especially, as the patient really opened up to us and shared some valuable insight into her condition.

On a separate note, the social life really is in full swing. Each night the social chairs of the student government for the medical school have an event planned. It's definitely been a challenge attending these events, getting relatively few hours of sleep, and then repeating it all over again at 8 AM the next morning.

We start "real" basic science classes next Monday - should be quite the adventure. Did I mention I helped move 23 cadavers into the Anatomy Lab yesterday afternoon? Definitely pretty creepy moving around bodies like that... guess I'll have to get used to it. Brings back memories of fetal pig dissection in the 9th grade - somehow I think this might be just a bit different. They were also sharpening the hack saws for our start next week - yikes!

Well I've written enough for now - I'll check back soon!

First Day - Manic Monday?

Maybe a bit anticlimactic. For probably the first time EVER, I had all my stuff I needed completed and finished. Quite an accomplishment for me as you all know! Started at 8:30, and I'm here writing this at noon! Nothing really major happened today at all - got yet another tour (but I'll still always get lost around the Medical Center!), had to fill out some forms/emergency contacts. They made a big deal in the letter a few weeks ago to bring pens... it was nice to see they actually provided them! Nothing says "rough economy" quite like "bring your own pen, we won't be providing them." My tour guide was an RA in my dorm first year - maybe she looks back on that and laughs? I can't believe that was 4 years ago!

Got fitted for my white coat today - once again my broad shoulders force me to get a huge size that would probably fit most of our "larger" members of the rescue squad. I guess that's what i get for being a swimmer, right? I'll be getting it taken in for sure.

As for the people - I'm really surprised (and psyched) about how down to earth and "socially adept" people we have in our class! I was really expecting some major social issues - science types aren't usually considered the most outgoing and talkative people (for the most part!). Something about spending all their time in a lab. Which is why I majored in Econ! We have to wear our hospital IDs in Jordan Hall (the Med School) at all times - good thing because I'm horrendous with names. Yesterday a bunch of us went out to Crozet to a random watering hole complete with a rope swing... 2 back flops and several curses later I decided maybe swinging wasn't the best idea.
Well I think I've written enough for today. All in all a great day, BBQ tonight. Back on the saddle for our first FULL day tomorrow (8-5... yikes.).

I'm also not sure if I like my setup for the blog. Any suggestions?

Intro / Test

Welcome to the blog! Thanks for stopping by - I'll try to keep you entertained! This is more of a test entry than a real one.

I start medical school tomorrow - but it's just orientation apparently for the first week. Definitely pretty excited about it though! Already met a bunch of people in the past few nights, looking like it should be a pretty good class!

Look for more tomorrow. Let the games begin.