Passed My First Medical School Exam!

Yay!! I'm officially a medical student! - or at least now I feel like one?
Well, for the first many weeks, I almost felt like I was kind of hanging around, playing doctor. Of course, I'd study, but mainly because I had no idea what to expect. Now that the one exam that probably defines medical school (Anatomy) has come and gone, I feel a little bit more at home.

Don't let people tell you it's easy:
Every time I get caught studying in my room by a 2nd year, they tell me, "It's pass/fail! Why are you studying? Enjoy! Have fun!" It's not that I don't like having fun with other people (tennis, frisbee, ballroom dancing, musical, and a bijillion interest groups), I just actually want to know these things. And I mean, how often will you get a chance to cut open a cadaver? This is only something that's gonna happen this first year. I might as well make all the mistakes now so that I don't do it so often on a real person.

The Anatomy Exam:
I'd say that the exam was pretty hard, but they graded pretty easily. The format of this exam was unlike anything I've had before. Since there are about 30 tables, each with a cadaver on it, all the students were split into 4 groups (each group, about 30 students). Then, each person goes to a table, and had 2 minutes to answer the question(s) at that table. Then you rotate. Wow, I didn't know what to expect. I guess I should've known from the practice exams, but I didn't realize how QUICKLY 2 minutes passed. I was especially lulled into a sense of security with my 1st question. It was really easy and I stood there doing nothing for nearly 2 minutes. But then my 3rd question had parts a-j! Ack! I think I only got to d, and put random structures down for the rest of them! There was another question about the heart, I got flustered, and pretty much ran out of time before i answered anything. Another time, I accidentally labeled my answer sheet a, b, c, b, c, d, e....and I got so confused when I answered all the questions and realized questions went to f and my answer sheet went to e.
But despite all these unexpected little details, I did fine. :)

Old roommate = CEO of Braille Labeler Company!!

My old roommate/CEO is so awesome!!! Featured on homepage of MIT and in an article about her 6Dot Braille Labeler! "A device that started out as a class project last fall is moving rapidly toward becoming a commercial product that could make the lives of millions of visually impaired people a bit easier..." I need to remember this when I feel incompetent. :D Go roommate!

They won the MIT IDEAS Competition!

"Oh, no! I'm the first patient these 23 medical students have ever examined."

Ahhahahahaha!!! This is the best article ever!!! It's about this standardized patient who got to be the guinea pig for 23 medical students! MNZ: you HAVE to read this! It's hilarious!

Playing Doctor by Emily Yoffe
Just the picture on the first page makes me laugh. Hehe.
Compliments of SP

And here's a difficult to diagnose tumor: X-Ray

Confused about what area of medicine to go into? This might help you! hehehe... Student Types

Screening Asian Peeps

Today, instead of studying for my anatomy test that's tomorrow, I decided to spend 5 hours doing a health screening at a Chinese school. Yes! My slight ability to speak in Chinese came in handy! In fact, I asked where this one lady was from in China, she answered my question, and continued talking for at least half an hour about her son who got 3 degrees from SLU, got a law degree, really smart...etc. Oh man, at least it was good practice!

Man, Please Be Okay!:
Holy cow, we were screening for diabetes (blood glucose) and hypertension (blood pressure), and the 4th guy I tested had a blood glucose of 501 mg/dl! Normal fasted level is less than 100 mg/dl, and not fasted is less than 140! Wow. I was getting 104, 120, etc... And then all of a sudden, boom! There was 501 on the glucometer! At first I thought I was reading the glucometer upside down - perhaps it was 105...but no! We tested it again, and it was 498, or something like that... Wow, he didn't seem to show any abnormal symptoms at all either. I'm just afraid I didn't express to him exactly how urgent it was that he sees a doctor right away. Ah...I hope he'll be okay!

MIT Tennis - nerds will always be nerds

Hahaha...surprise, surprise...MIT won 20 Scholar-Athlete awards for tennis: Tennis Tabbed for ITA Honors Tied for most in country!
But what's cool is that both roommate/doubles partner and I were first to get 4 at MIT! How exciting!

I'm gonna be a lady! + hot air balloon and gut

Hahaha, apparently I'm going to be a lady in "Once Upon a Mattress" - a musical if you haven't figured that out yet. Yup, last time I auditioned for something was...2nd grade for Nutcracker. And I'm pretty surprised they let me finish singing during the audition. But I guess they had to keep their word and give everyone who auditioned a place in the musical. I really hope this isn't too much of a time commitment!
Trailer

Hot Air Balloon Festival:
In St. Louis, there's an annual hot air balloon festival where many (as in 70+) hot air balloons are lit, inflated, and raced! There were balloons shaped like a birthday cake, a pepsi can, and even an energizer rabbit (it's on the left of the pic).


Dissecting the Gut:
So we have a female body, and because there's always a lot of fascia around everything, things are really, really difficult to find. So we have this ongoing joke where if we have a really difficult time finding something, we say, "I can't find the penis!" Well, so we were looking into the gut region to search for the uterus. And it turns out that we can't find a uterus either because our body had a hysterectomy. Well...most likely.

First Patient Interview!!!

Ah yes! I had my first interview with a patient today! OH BOY! I thought they were going to be standardized patients, but no! I talked to a real patient! Eeek...did not think I prepared that much. But thankfully, I had a talkative patient. Most of the time I was just saying, "oh really?" and she would keep on talking. Then I'd say "oh wow..."...and she would keep on talking. She was a patient with a whole bunch of history. Hehe, it was kind of fun! Someone else did the physical, and the lady looked very concerned like she didn't think we knew what we were doing (which was kind of true). hahaha....

Oh ya, we also did lymph node checks on each other. It felt like I was given a message. ah....more lymph node checks please!

Oooo...here's my anatomy group!:


Unfortunately, we're not allowed to take a picture of our cadaver or any body parts. Oh well, you can see us in our lovely, formaldehyde scented attire.

Things I wish I had brought/I did bring/I got for free/I bought

Some random...

Things I wish I had brought to med school:
Goggles for anatomy
Stolen extra gloves from lab for anatomy
Lodish (Biochem) book
Neuroscience book by Bear
Sponge
...I'll run into more for sure.

Things I'm glad I brought to med school:
Locks
Bike lock
Rice cooker
Blanket, bedding, pillow
Umbrella
Screwdrivers, tape measure, pocket knife
...

Things I'm glad I acquired for free:
Various books that were left on a bench outside the elevator of my dorm
Hot plate
Small carpet
Cup/Mug
Highlighter
Big bag
Measuring cups
Printer (well..it's on loan)
Webcam (same)

...

Things I had to buy:
Dishwashing soap
Knife
Cutting board
Measuring spoons, baking pan
Nail clipper
Conditioner

Medical School: Not Awkward At All

Dissected Thorax, Now the Inguinal Region:
If you aren't aware, the inguinal region is essentially your groin area. Well, so one night, I was studying anatomy with some friends, and I realized that I knew the names of the things going through that region, but had no idea what they did. So starting with the question: "What does the spermatic cord consist of/do?" it ended in a conversion with two guys about how the design of it allows guys to walk uninhibited (had no idea what the hand/arm gestures meant), how the cremaster muscle pulls the gonads in for temperature homeostasis, details about circumcision, and other anatomical enlightening topics. Haha...not awkward at all.

First preceptorship:
First shadowing primary care physician experience! I actually got to use my stethoscope and listen to a heart murmur and gurgling indigestion. But I couldn't really hear the murmur. All I could hear was the lub dub of a normal heart. :(

Sports and Activity Dilemma, Being a Windshield

During undergrad, pretty much the thing i played was tennis. Two hours a day, 5 days a week + sometimes having matches, and two seasons (fall and spring). It was a lot of fun and a lot of time commitment. So I thought I'd continue with tennis in med school...

Well, then I realized it was difficult to find people to play with. Sure, there are people to play with, but it's still not the same. No more consistent time to play everyday for a long period of time. I almost miss being emotionally and physically tortured. haha...okay, not really tortured. So things I tried to do...

Tennis with the undergrad:
I contacted undergrad coach to see if I can hit with them. Hm...although the players are no doubt good and have awesome form, practice isn't really as much of a workout as I want it to be. I also feel kind of weird being a hitter and using so much effort that I grunt. Yes, I admit, I grunt.

I'm now trying Ultimate Frizbee (club):
Well, so frisbee seems like something that you can go to a park, find some random people, and just start up (unlike tennis - unless you have skills to pave a court and build a net). So I got convinced by a good friend to go to their practice today. Holy Cow, there must have been 50 people there! Granted it was first day, I did not expect that many people! Well, it was nice finally learning the proper way to throw a frisbee. All my life I have been deceived! Since there were so many people, I didn't really get to play that much...we'll see. Thing is...it conflicts with...

Ballroom dancing:
Oh boy, I signed up for ballroom dancing. But I figured it's also a random skill that might be useful. Who knows when I might be in need of some happy feet. Then I won't need to hesitate, and I can just pull out some swing or salsa skills. Ah...but it conflicts with ultimate practice. What to do, what to do?

Being a Windshield:
I had my first windshield experience. Now I understand the pain of that glass in front of your car. I went running this other day through Forest Park (park near med school). It was nice! I've been running for a total of 3 times so far! Better than when I was at Boston. haha. Well, this time, for some reason, the bugs were extremely excited. The run included a beautiful scenery of Boat House, the Muny (a stadium for the 1904 World Fair), and the Jewel Box (green house), but at the end of our run, I was completely covered with bugs that drowned/died in my sweat or knocked out by the impact of my 130 lb body. It was gross.

I tried to play some basketball and soccer, but I think i suck too much. Ah...why didn't I develop these skills earlier?!!

Job:
Ah, I should get into that soon and earn some money. The reality of being a student...

And of course, there are a whole bunch of volunteering opportunities going on:
STATS: teaching high school kids about HIV/sexual diseases
SPOTS: " " " " " issues of sun/UV/skin cancer
Food Outreach: something I found on my own where you cook for HIV/Cancer patients
CHIPS: I think this is a free clinic?
Saturday something something: another free clinic?
And more...

Still harboring innate premed symptoms, I signed up for a giggilion things and probably spread myself too thin again. Well, exams haven't started yet, so I'm still feeling happy. But then again, I have my first quiz on Thursday. Yikes!

Awesome/Funny/Cute videos

1. Hahaha...this was a video made by 1st years some year back. It's brilliant!



2. Really, really cute bulldog videos: Tilt heads and Can't get up

3. I found someone hadn't seen this yet - it should be a sin: Best Wedding Entrance Ever

Awkward Family Photos

Hahaha...I was reading "cup of jo" blog, and I came upon a website that featured awkward family photos. Haha...I've attached a few of my fav's:
Oh...grannys...Spic and Span
This is just awkward: Watchmen
I think this is something that I would do: Awkward Family Story: Double Take
Haha...cute kid: "Bookend"

And finally...my favorite: Playtex

Medical School Procrastination

Awesome youtube video, compliment of mnz!:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Yo, so you know the "I'm on a boat" song right?

Here it is on youtube in case you don't:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOvaCV6uQp8

Well here's the med version: "I wear a coat"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfoR96w41wk
------------

Hilarious article, compliment of JS:
"One of those things you feel bad for laughing at...

http://imgur.com/ORogZ.jpg"

------------

Funny moments, compliment of EK:

"In honor of yesterday's POM...

1.. A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her baby in the cab." I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress and began to take off her underwear.
Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs - - - and I was in the wrong one.

Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald,
San Francisco

2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big breaths,". . .... I instructed.
"Yes, they used to be,". . . replied the patient.

Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes,
Seattle , WA

3. One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a "massive internal fart."

Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg

4.. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with one of his medications. "Which one ?". . .. I asked.
"The patch ......the Nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I'm running out of places to put it!" I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body!Now, the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.

Submitted by Dr Rebecca St. Clair,
Norfolk , VA

5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, "How long have you been bedridden?" After a look of complete confusion she answered . . "Why, not for about twenty years - when my husband was alive."

Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson,
Corvallis , OR

6. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning and while checking up on a man I asked .. . . "So how's your breakfast this morning?" "It's very good except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem to get used to the taste" . . Bob replied. I then asked to see the jelly and Bob produced a foil packet labeled "KY Jelly."

Submitted by Dr.. Leonard Kransdorf,
Detroit

7.. A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered . . ..

It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery.. When she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green and above it there was a tattoo that read . . . "Keep off the grass."

Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's dressing, which said, "Sorry . . . had to mow the lawn."

Submitted by RN no name

AND FINALLY!! ! ... . . . ... . . . . ... . . ...

8. As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB. I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams... To cover my embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly.
The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me.
I looked up from my work and sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?"
She replied with tears running down her cheeks from laughing so hard ... .... ... "No doctor, but the song you were whistling was . . . 'I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener..'"

Dr. wouldn't submit his name . ."

Non-computer savvy

So far the most confusing thing about med school is its web interface. First they send us a whole bunch of usernames and passwords. Yes, they tell us what it's for, but we haven't even heard of these websites/accounts/whatever before, so by the time we get to med school orientation, we've pretty much all lost our passwords or usernames or whatever.

Then, to make our lives easier, we have MedPortal, My CoursePlaces, WUMSweb (or something like that), WebSTAC, and a separate MFM (molecular foundations of medicine, aka biochem) website that doesn't appear to connect to the other websites. So I am guessing that MedPortal seems to be the main place for lectures...but then some (not all?) schedules, handouts, etc. seem to be posted on My Course Places, and then WUMSweb is a website for stuff that med students have posted. WebSTAC, I guess, is the equivalent of the more administrative stuff like grades, financial stuff, you-are-failing notes, etc.

And then for each class, the material and places we are supposed to go on the website varies so much! Some classes have course notes, some have homework in the course notes, some have hw on some website, some require it to be posted, sometimes we get into groups, sometimes the groups change, sometimes they stay the same, and then there are times when they give us notes so late we have to pick them up from our mailbox right before lecture. Other times they forget to give us notes, or give us websites to go to, but forget to tell us the password or username (or maybe i forgot them?). Some have study questions - i just found out yesterday that my MFM class has study questions. Anatomy has questions of the week that need to be answered on Fridays, and also there are a bijillion ppts sent out from that class for what day, I am not even sure. There are mysterious videos we have to scavenge for (just realized where to find dissection videos for anatomy - horray!). For POM (practice of medicine) they gave us not one, but THREE course notes, and I would not know which day to use what without MedPortal. ugh...so confusing!

And then what is up with all the interest groups and their incessant use of acronyms? AMWA, AMA, AMSA, APAMSA, PHIG, SPOTS, STATS, IMIG... Sure, use your acronyms, but we are first years and have no idea what they mean (okay, by now I kind of do, but I dont want to remember more things than what I absolutely have to remember).

Swing dancing, blood pressure, and random other things

Med school has been a lot of fun, and I think one of the major contributions to that fun is being able to try new things. Just yesterday, I check out ballroom dancing. That day's lesson was swing. Although I've done some swing dancing in undergrad, it was still amusing, and fun to dancing with different people and hear different ways people teach it. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, slow, slow - haha, like what the instructor said, all I need to do is brush my teeth and say that rhythm each morning/night. haha. Of course, I'm still as awkward, stiff and floppy at the same time as ever. I think my shoe kept on slipping off as well. It's nice being a girl - whatever goes wrong, it's always the guy's fault. hehe. Anyhow, it was a fun experience, and I'm looking forward to another night of it some other week.

Other fun experiences, I guess I'm getting into frisbee too. Although my only ability is to run a bit (or a lot), I fail at the upper body part of it all - catching and throwing. But maybe by joining the undergrad club team, I'll get better. Like ballroom dancing, I think it's a nice skill to have - I'm hoping it'll come in handy someday.

My heart rate is 49?!!
Wow, when I got my physical and they said my heart rate was 49, I thought something was wrong. Yesterday we got to go around and checkout our classmate's heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. Wow, I almost feel like a real doctor! The person checking me reported that I had a rate of 48, but then realized she multiplied by 3 instead of 4 (15 sec check) - so it was actually about 64. But strangely, when my neighbor checked it out again, and I did a double check, we both got 48. haha...strange.

We also practiced introducing ourselves to a patient as we entered the room. haha, it's a lot more complicated then I expected. I forgot to ask for permission to enter the room, it's awkward having to wait to purell your hands before you shake the patient's hand, and I got waaaaaay too much purell on my hand so I had to just stand there awkwardly for a long time before I could shake their hand. This other guy got way too much on his hand, and accidentally clapped - so purell foam flew all over the place! That was awesome! Oh ya, I also forgot to say who I was. I'm glad I make things awkward.