Day 2069: Broken hearts

Hello. I just took my cardiac pathology exam. Ooph. It was okay...at the very best.

This craptastic professor is so detail-oriented! Details would be one thing, but I can tell you, after this exam, I know nothing about cardiac pathology. This woman teaches so poorly, I honestly didn't learn a single thing. I memorized a bunch of crap (lot of good that did me) and it's about to fly out of my brain so that I can study for my ethics exam tomorrow and the big kahuna of an exam (also known as block 2 of pharmacology) on Friday.

I'll be happy passing, because honestly, I have bigger fish to fry...like my 175+ drugs in pharmacology.

Wish me luck!

Edit [12:26pm]: Interim test scores are up. A pass. Okay. I'll take it.

Day 2024: The waiting begins...

Okay. So. Okay.

Pharmacology exams are all short answer or fill in the blank. This is the perfect test taking method for me. No multiple choice confusion. Just me. And yet, perhaps because it was the first exam, I still managed to make stupid mistakes. Since the exam is fill in the blank, it will take the professors roughly one week for them to return our exams to us. Despite how absurdly well-prepared I was, I am just hoping to pass. What I really wanted was a solid A or even a B, but right now, I just want to see how I did so I know what to do for the next exam.

Anyway, with pharm over, I have three days to study for pathology on Friday. Then, I will buy myself a couch this weekend. If that isn't retail therapy at its finest, I am not sure what is.

Day 1907: Two down, two to go.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jessica is two exams away from finishing her first year of medical school. !!!

My medical interview final was not what I heard it would be, but was totally fine. Hypertension and a 3-generation family history. Done-zo.

Today was my last exam for Cell & Tissue Biology (CTB). You should know, I absolutely annihilated it. 91 on the lab exam and 96 on the lecture exam.  I have to say, this class was actually pretty easy, which explains it's 78% pass score. (A "B" is an 85.5%!) I wish I had my act together in block 1 of this semester because this entire semester has been me working my butt off to compensate for my crappy first exam scores. I could have done really well (in this class) this semester!

Oh well. As Danny likes to point out, I got my act together pretty late in the game, but at least I got it together. And! Knowing what I need to succeed will mean that I will succeed next year.

Here are some fun pictures from my day:

Look what my sister sent me! A frame and self-made bracelets!

This was my reward. There is cheese inside the burger!

Okay kids, I've got to start studying neuro. The CTB exam ended at 11 and I've been doing random things since (getting clothes hemmed, making food, getting my laundry together, cleaning, tidying) so this is the last of my procrastination!

Until next time!

Day 1834: Live from medical school...

...it's Saturday night (vaguely) and I'm still alive!

While learning neurological things about our senses (taste, touch, smell, vision and hearing), I have decided our brains do some pretty intense stuff to process our sense. I must say, it's interesting, but not so interesting that I want to know where all the nuclei are for my cranial nerves. Does it matter if my trigeminal nuclei (both motor and sensory) are in my mid-pons? No. Do you know why? Read this paragraph, I sound so obnoxious!

These are words medical neuroscience has taught me: lemniscus, colliculus, geniculate, there are more. Variations on a theme really. Lateral lemniscus, medial lemniscus, superior colliculus, inferior colliculus, you get the drift. These are the most recent ones to come up on my list of many things to learn.

Dear medical school (especially neuroscience), if you could give me a super high A on this exam, I swear on my favorite clothes that I will be the best doctor ever. Love, Jess

Day 1303: Home, tomorrow!

Monday, 12/12/2011. Biochemistry exam. Fine. Could have gone better. I'm not too stressed about the results of this exam or my performance in the course.

Tuesday 12/13/2011. Lots of studying. Much less stress. I'm at the point where I have to royally screw up my exams to move my grade in a negative direction.

Wednesday 12/14/2011. Anatomy lab practical. They tagged a few structures more than once (which they never do), but I knew the body so I wasn't fooled. Studying for my written anatomy/human development test tomorrow and then I fly home! To California! Whee!

(Be on the lookout for back-dated posts of my sister's visit!)

Day 1280: Hello, I am a medical student.

I want to tell you about my sleeping tactics. Before most of my block exams (I can't remember, have I described what block exams are? In case I haven't, here it is. Unlike normal undergraduate semesters/quarters, with midterms and quizzes and final exams, we have blocks. Blocks usually range about 3-4 weeks in length. We learn so much information that unless you are in medical school it's hard for me to describe and have you understand fully. The depth and detail with which we are required to regurgitate information is flabbergasting. Anyway, at the end of each block, we have an exam. So, depending on when the professor chooses to end that block, we have exams roughly every three weeks. No, this is not a quiz. This is an exam. That usually runs for three hours. This is no joke.) ... anyway, where was I? Oh yes, sleep.

Before most of my block exams, I am doing one of two things. 1) I am studying in bed and eventually fall asleep with the light on, or 2) I actually choose to sleep the days leading up to the exam instead of learning things late into the night.

I am praying for sleep tonight (before my human development and anatomy exams tomorrow). I studied from, no joke, 11am yesterday (Sunday) to about 2:30? 2:50am(?) this morning. I took one nap from noon to 12:40pm. I went to the anatomy lab to look over some last structures today (/last night) from 12:15am to 1:40am. I came back and got ready for the night (brushed my teeth, washed my face, put on pajamas) and got back into studying. I kept falling asleep on my couch until who-knows-when and decided to actually lie down, take a quick nap and then wake up again to finish drilling this information into my head. I opened my eyes to see it was light outside, which means I fell asleep with the living room light on. I woke up, turned off the light, checked the time (7:49am) and have been awake studying ever since. My desired late-night/all-semi-nighter became Jessica's 5-hour sleep and now I am back into it until I take my lab practical at 1pm today. After that? More learning until my 9am exam tomorrow (AND THEN HOME).

It's official. I am finally a professional student. I have begun to have late nights. Not because I have a deadline (like my parents who have real jobs), but because I have exams (which is sort of like a deadline). I used to sleep on a normal schedule. Now, I just get sleep when I can.

My living room/bedroom/current place of studying-residence