Mountains Out of Molehills

I've been out of touch with the real world lately, apologies, friends and family, because we had two weeks with back to back big tests in Biochem and Histology. Nasty buggers but we slogged through it! Certainly felt like we were making mountains out of tiny little molehills of information that we won't have to recall until boards and then never again after that. Minutiae, but currently it is important minutiae. So it goes. Cram it in your brain, regurgitate on the test, move on to cram more things into your brain. I found I am forgetting regular English words, phrases, points of grammar, things like that. Which is a little weird. So if I sound even more awkward talking with you, please forgive me.
I'm very much looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. A break from this marathon will be so much appreciated!
Things to note: if you know anyone in med school, they will love receiving homecooked goodies, anything, cookies, bread, leftovers! Just not having to cook is a super duper treat and having something tasty that you can't make yourself is even better! So thank you Mom, thank you Christy, and thank you Brad!

Undergrad Gratitude

These days, we're taking Biomolecular Cell Biology (BMCB) and Histology, with a dollop of Nutrition on top. And boy, am I ever glad that I decided to go the extra mile and take Biochemistry at St. Olaf. Seriously people, if you think you're going to be pre-med, take that class! It'll save you tons of grief on down the line. And if you aren't a biology major (okay, even if you are), you had better take Genetics and make sure you understand it. Life will be easier later on. Now and then I wish I had taken more in cell biology, or something of the sort. Or that Anatomy had included more histology in it. But I suppose medical school will be an avalanche of information no matter what. At least I had decent preparation for it.

Last Anatomy Test

I have been slacking a bit in the blog-posting department, and in the replying-to-emails department, and in the keeping-up-with-current-events department. Why? Because I have been studying the head and neck. The last few weeks have been a bit crazy. Apologies. Maybe in the future I'll be better. At least I won't be trying to remember all the cranial nerves, the various openings in the skull they go through, their branches, and all the functions they have. The shortest distance between point A and point B is a straight line and I can guarantee that no nerve will actually take that route!

Don't Pop Those Pimples!

Today we learned that the advice your mother gave you is actually spot on! If you squeeze the pimples on your nose, you can develop an infection there. There are veins coursing by the nose that drain into the brain. If an infection from a popped pimple spreads and gets into one of these veins, then the infection can spread into your brain and you can develop meningitis or some other nastiness.
Don't pop those pimples!

It's Over!

Yup, my very first test of med school is now over with! It was harder than I had expected. The intense preparation and unsettling amount of guessing reminded me of organic chemistry at St. Olaf. At least the subject is WAY more interesting than that! The exam was done in two parts, the lecture exam and the practical exam (in the lab, identifying tags on cadavers, skeletons, and radiographs). I felt a lot more confident on the practical (but all bets are off until I see my real scores; that can wait until tomorrow). It was nice to sit around my apartment this afternoon and actually do nothing! Of course we get right back into in all tomorrow, but today, ignorance is bliss!
Tip: It is helpful to do lots of cooking on the weekends so you'll have food for the rest of the week. It's not fun to be stressed out and hungry when studying for a big test and trying to make something tasty and semi-nutritious in a short amount of time.
Tip Part Two: Make sure the food you make for the week will still be enjoyable come day 6 of it. I zoomed past my taco salad threshold for one week and probably won't be eating it again for quite some time. Maybe it'll seem delicious again in a couple months. In smaller doses.
Testing tip of the day: Learn to love multiple choice questions! It's the format of choice, so get used to it! Besides, it's really satisfying to forcefully cross out obviously wrong answers.

Another Day In The Lab

Today I wasn't in the anatomy labs quite as long as yesterday. Today I was only in there from 2:30 to about 5:45. Yesterday I was there from 11 to 5:45. Uhgg. I think all the chemicals got to my head because I was giddy and amused with most anything for the rest of the night yesterday. Today I am much better. Which is a good thing because I need to review the leg and foot. Hands are feet are incredibly complex! After doing a hand dissection, I really really wish I had gotten a video of my trigger finger surgery so I could figure out precisely what they did.
Lesson of the day: Don't spend 6 hours in the lab.
Funny thing: I am inclined to draw on myself to trace the tendons of different muscles groups, major veins and arteries, and delineate the different dermatones for which nerves are sensory in what areas. My roommate and I are wondering if it would be cheating to get a tattoo of all that stuff....

Strange Joys

Through anatomy, I (and other med students I've talked with) have found strange joys and satisfaction. We love removing fascia and being able to see the beautiful striations of muscles below. Distinguishing the veins, arteries, and nerves stuck to each other in large bundles will make us ooooo and awwwww. We also love using tools! Learning the proper reverse scissoring technique was our first big skill (taking a closed scissor and then gently opening it to push things apart rather than cutting anything). We're getting much better with scalpels, dental picks, forceps, and as of today chisels (we needed them in order to remove parts of spinal vertebrae so we could see the spinal cord and dorsal and ventral roots coming off it, soooo cool!). I also really enjoy x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs and being able to see what all these anatomical structures look like inside out, the organization of all the muscles, nerves, bones, etc is really cool. Probably the jigsaw puzzle addict in me loving to think about spatial organization and putting all of this together in my head, and I really like being able to trace muscles and bones in different slices of CT scan moving down the leg or the arm.
Fact of the day: If someone tears their ACL in their knee, they are more likely to also tear their lateral meniscus than their medial meniscus, even though anatomically speaking, more strain should be placed on the medial meniscus. The "unhappy triad" of knee injuries actually isn't that common.
College course gratitude: Thank goodness Anatomy at Olaf taught me about bones because I would be so confused if I didn't have that as a solid base. It would have been nice to know about the carpals and tarsals, we have some fun mnemonics for those!
Also, I wish I could have better learned spatial orientation, and being to see a 2D image and be able to piece it together in my mind to a 3D reality. That would have been helpful. I'm decent at it, but I have room to improve.
This weekend is the big study weekend as we prepare for our first test on Wednesday! I'll be spending most of my days in the lab, wish me luck!