With only 2 and a half weeks left in the summer semester, my 11 day summer "vacation" seems so close, yet so completely out of reach. Within that time, I still have: 1 Physical Diagnosis test, 2 Anatomy quizzes, 1 Head and Neck Anatomy exam (cadaver and written portions), 1 PD practicum exam, 1 simulated patient assessment note, 1 Clinical Reasoning final exam...I'm probably missing some stuff because, at this point, I can barely think ahead to tomorrow, let alone 2 weeks from now. Anyway, there's a lot to be done, and it seems never-ending, daunting, and as if it will never end.
With the hell of the last 2 weeks behind me, in which there were 2 Anatomy exams covering 2 completely different units only 1 week apart, in addition to a paper and PD exam, this week was a nice breath of fresh air with no pressing need to study for the last 3 days. Unfortunately, it was difficult to enjoy this brief time off from studying, because I was so exhausted from the last few weeks that all I wanted to do was sleep...and sleep some more. I finally had a little time to myself, and all I could think about was sleeping, and even when I did sleep, I still felt tired. PA school has finally started getting to me, and I am starting to feel that constant fatigue that happens when you combine too many lattes, late nights, stress, and zero personal time. I seriously think that when I have my 11 days off from school, I will do nothing but sleep until noon, go to bed at 8, and watch movies/read books with the time I'm actually awake...it will be GLORIOUS!
In Anatomy, we are finally covering my favorite area: the spine, head, and neck. I love the head and neck, because so much goes on in terms of neurological functioning, and I honestly cannot think of anything more fascinating than the human nervous system...it's so delicate, yet so insanely complex. To think that little nerve fibers control the entirety of our existence is mind-boggling, and, as I said, fascinating. It's also very tedious. The head and neck is the most complex area of the body, with endless arteries, veins, nervous structures, muscles, and bony landmarks. I currently dislike the bony landmarks. For this current unit, in a 25-page study guide for the exam, 8 pages are taken up by the bony landmarks of the skull alone. Translated: there are hundreds of little holes, crevices, depressions, pointy things, not-so-pointy things, and imaginary places on the skull where nerves, arteries, veins, muscles, and other stuff go through, attach to, and go around to get to other places in the body. There is truly nothing that kills your mood more than sitting and staring at a human skull, with a list of the landmarks you need to identify, and somehow get into your brain. Finding them is not difficult; remembering what goes into/onto them is the challenging part.
In cadaver lab, as we have been encountering the spine, head, and neck, we have had some really interesting dissections, and some very tedious ones. Earlier this week, we got to dissect the spinal column. It was the most amazing lab EVER!!! Here's why: after removing the muscles of the back, we found the vertebral column, and after scraping away as much of the remaining muscle tissue on the vertebrae, I got to use an electric autopsy saw to remove the back of the spinal column from the ribcage to the tailbone, in order to visualize the spinal cord. Using the autopsy saw was really cool, because it's designed to only cut through hard tissue, like bone, but spare soft tissue. Theoretically, you can hold it up to your own hand while it's running, and it won't touch you. However, I don't dare try it, just in case it malfunctioned for some reason :-P. Anywho, after removing the spinal column, I saw the spinal cord. It's actually relatively small in diameter (only about 1-2 cm thick) considering how important it is, but it was still the coolest thing I have seen this semester. I was acting like a 9 year-old in a candy store the entire lab, because I was so fascinated and excited to see the spinal cord.
Today's lab was not so exciting. It was face dissection day. I will spare you the details, but after we removed the dressing that kept the face covered for the last 7 weeks, we spent nearly 4 hours trying to remove the skin and find extremely delicate structures located in the face, and covered by very thick connective tissue. Needless to say, it was very tiring, even when I wasn't dissecting, and by the time lab finished, we were all exhausted and very frustrated. However, we get to open up the top of the skull and pull out the brain next week, so I am trying to stay positive, and get pumped up for the part of anatomy lab that I have been waiting for all summer. It will be interesting to see what we find, not only in our cadaver, but everyone else as well; many of the cadavers died from strokes or brain bleeds, so it will be interesting to see if there is obvious evidence of brain death/damage when we open up the skull and pull out the brain.
That's all for now; sleep sounds so nice right now.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Balance is the key word
In PA school, everything is (supposedly) all about maintaining balance. Being able to integrate and synthesize the massive amounts of knowledge being thrown at me, while having an outside life and remembering to care for myself at the same time is sometimes easier said than done. However, I find that I actually have quite a large amount of time for myself and my personal interests, even though school is very difficult at times.
The first round of exams arrived and passed more than 2 weeks ago, and I am still here. The first Anatomy exam was killer, but I was surprised to find out that I had done incredibly well, so I was very happy, but at the same time, there wasn't a whole lot of time to celebrate, as it was immediately on to new material.
After the hell of the upper extremity during the first unit, diving into the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis was really exciting...the "blood and guts" of anatomy is what really makes me go...it's just so fascinating. It's where pathology is most evident, and my classmates have found some incredibly fascinating things in their cadavers. There were several pacemakers found, evidence of central lines, surgical procedures (including several people who had multiple coronary bypass operations) and several cases of "organomegaly," or enlarged organs. One cadaver had a heart that was nearly 5 times larger than normal, evidence of severe heart-failure.
However, the thorax and abdomen presents its own set of problems, such as the fact that there is SO MUCH going on once you peel back the anterior abdominal wall. There are so many different organ systems represented, and arteries traversing over veins, nerves, lymphatic drainage ducts, and other things.
Round 2 of exams started today with Physical Diagnosis, which I did really well on, but there are still 2 Anatomy exams (thorax/abdomen, and then, after spending only 1 week on the lower extremity, another exam exactly 1 week after the upcoming one on the 19th), a patient-chart note, and a simulated patient interview on the last day of July. The next two weeks are absolutely pure-hell, and I yearn for it to be August 1st already, and for this mess of exams to be behind me. After this, it's 3 weeks in the head and neck, which I'm super excited for, especially when we dissect out the spine/spinal cord, brain, and peripheral nerves. Since neurosurgery is one of the specialties that is high on my list, I am extremely interested in all things neuro. As I said, 3 weeks in the head and neck, and the Anatomy exam associated with that, and 1 Physical Diagnosis comprehensive physical examination, where we are put in a room with standardized patients and graded on our physical exam techniques.
My brief summer break seems so close, and yet, so far away. Think good thoughts for me over the next two weeks. I love and miss you all!
The first round of exams arrived and passed more than 2 weeks ago, and I am still here. The first Anatomy exam was killer, but I was surprised to find out that I had done incredibly well, so I was very happy, but at the same time, there wasn't a whole lot of time to celebrate, as it was immediately on to new material.
After the hell of the upper extremity during the first unit, diving into the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis was really exciting...the "blood and guts" of anatomy is what really makes me go...it's just so fascinating. It's where pathology is most evident, and my classmates have found some incredibly fascinating things in their cadavers. There were several pacemakers found, evidence of central lines, surgical procedures (including several people who had multiple coronary bypass operations) and several cases of "organomegaly," or enlarged organs. One cadaver had a heart that was nearly 5 times larger than normal, evidence of severe heart-failure.
However, the thorax and abdomen presents its own set of problems, such as the fact that there is SO MUCH going on once you peel back the anterior abdominal wall. There are so many different organ systems represented, and arteries traversing over veins, nerves, lymphatic drainage ducts, and other things.
Round 2 of exams started today with Physical Diagnosis, which I did really well on, but there are still 2 Anatomy exams (thorax/abdomen, and then, after spending only 1 week on the lower extremity, another exam exactly 1 week after the upcoming one on the 19th), a patient-chart note, and a simulated patient interview on the last day of July. The next two weeks are absolutely pure-hell, and I yearn for it to be August 1st already, and for this mess of exams to be behind me. After this, it's 3 weeks in the head and neck, which I'm super excited for, especially when we dissect out the spine/spinal cord, brain, and peripheral nerves. Since neurosurgery is one of the specialties that is high on my list, I am extremely interested in all things neuro. As I said, 3 weeks in the head and neck, and the Anatomy exam associated with that, and 1 Physical Diagnosis comprehensive physical examination, where we are put in a room with standardized patients and graded on our physical exam techniques.
My brief summer break seems so close, and yet, so far away. Think good thoughts for me over the next two weeks. I love and miss you all!
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Friday, July 30, 2010
Sometimes the most exciting things are the most tedious...
With only 2 and a half weeks left in the summer semester, my 11 day summer "vacation" seems so close, yet so completely out of reach. Within that time, I still have: 1 Physical Diagnosis test, 2 Anatomy quizzes, 1 Head and Neck Anatomy exam (cadaver and written portions), 1 PD practicum exam, 1 simulated patient assessment note, 1 Clinical Reasoning final exam...I'm probably missing some stuff because, at this point, I can barely think ahead to tomorrow, let alone 2 weeks from now. Anyway, there's a lot to be done, and it seems never-ending, daunting, and as if it will never end.
With the hell of the last 2 weeks behind me, in which there were 2 Anatomy exams covering 2 completely different units only 1 week apart, in addition to a paper and PD exam, this week was a nice breath of fresh air with no pressing need to study for the last 3 days. Unfortunately, it was difficult to enjoy this brief time off from studying, because I was so exhausted from the last few weeks that all I wanted to do was sleep...and sleep some more. I finally had a little time to myself, and all I could think about was sleeping, and even when I did sleep, I still felt tired. PA school has finally started getting to me, and I am starting to feel that constant fatigue that happens when you combine too many lattes, late nights, stress, and zero personal time. I seriously think that when I have my 11 days off from school, I will do nothing but sleep until noon, go to bed at 8, and watch movies/read books with the time I'm actually awake...it will be GLORIOUS!
In Anatomy, we are finally covering my favorite area: the spine, head, and neck. I love the head and neck, because so much goes on in terms of neurological functioning, and I honestly cannot think of anything more fascinating than the human nervous system...it's so delicate, yet so insanely complex. To think that little nerve fibers control the entirety of our existence is mind-boggling, and, as I said, fascinating. It's also very tedious. The head and neck is the most complex area of the body, with endless arteries, veins, nervous structures, muscles, and bony landmarks. I currently dislike the bony landmarks. For this current unit, in a 25-page study guide for the exam, 8 pages are taken up by the bony landmarks of the skull alone. Translated: there are hundreds of little holes, crevices, depressions, pointy things, not-so-pointy things, and imaginary places on the skull where nerves, arteries, veins, muscles, and other stuff go through, attach to, and go around to get to other places in the body. There is truly nothing that kills your mood more than sitting and staring at a human skull, with a list of the landmarks you need to identify, and somehow get into your brain. Finding them is not difficult; remembering what goes into/onto them is the challenging part.
In cadaver lab, as we have been encountering the spine, head, and neck, we have had some really interesting dissections, and some very tedious ones. Earlier this week, we got to dissect the spinal column. It was the most amazing lab EVER!!! Here's why: after removing the muscles of the back, we found the vertebral column, and after scraping away as much of the remaining muscle tissue on the vertebrae, I got to use an electric autopsy saw to remove the back of the spinal column from the ribcage to the tailbone, in order to visualize the spinal cord. Using the autopsy saw was really cool, because it's designed to only cut through hard tissue, like bone, but spare soft tissue. Theoretically, you can hold it up to your own hand while it's running, and it won't touch you. However, I don't dare try it, just in case it malfunctioned for some reason :-P. Anywho, after removing the spinal column, I saw the spinal cord. It's actually relatively small in diameter (only about 1-2 cm thick) considering how important it is, but it was still the coolest thing I have seen this semester. I was acting like a 9 year-old in a candy store the entire lab, because I was so fascinated and excited to see the spinal cord.
Today's lab was not so exciting. It was face dissection day. I will spare you the details, but after we removed the dressing that kept the face covered for the last 7 weeks, we spent nearly 4 hours trying to remove the skin and find extremely delicate structures located in the face, and covered by very thick connective tissue. Needless to say, it was very tiring, even when I wasn't dissecting, and by the time lab finished, we were all exhausted and very frustrated. However, we get to open up the top of the skull and pull out the brain next week, so I am trying to stay positive, and get pumped up for the part of anatomy lab that I have been waiting for all summer. It will be interesting to see what we find, not only in our cadaver, but everyone else as well; many of the cadavers died from strokes or brain bleeds, so it will be interesting to see if there is obvious evidence of brain death/damage when we open up the skull and pull out the brain.
That's all for now; sleep sounds so nice right now.
With the hell of the last 2 weeks behind me, in which there were 2 Anatomy exams covering 2 completely different units only 1 week apart, in addition to a paper and PD exam, this week was a nice breath of fresh air with no pressing need to study for the last 3 days. Unfortunately, it was difficult to enjoy this brief time off from studying, because I was so exhausted from the last few weeks that all I wanted to do was sleep...and sleep some more. I finally had a little time to myself, and all I could think about was sleeping, and even when I did sleep, I still felt tired. PA school has finally started getting to me, and I am starting to feel that constant fatigue that happens when you combine too many lattes, late nights, stress, and zero personal time. I seriously think that when I have my 11 days off from school, I will do nothing but sleep until noon, go to bed at 8, and watch movies/read books with the time I'm actually awake...it will be GLORIOUS!
In Anatomy, we are finally covering my favorite area: the spine, head, and neck. I love the head and neck, because so much goes on in terms of neurological functioning, and I honestly cannot think of anything more fascinating than the human nervous system...it's so delicate, yet so insanely complex. To think that little nerve fibers control the entirety of our existence is mind-boggling, and, as I said, fascinating. It's also very tedious. The head and neck is the most complex area of the body, with endless arteries, veins, nervous structures, muscles, and bony landmarks. I currently dislike the bony landmarks. For this current unit, in a 25-page study guide for the exam, 8 pages are taken up by the bony landmarks of the skull alone. Translated: there are hundreds of little holes, crevices, depressions, pointy things, not-so-pointy things, and imaginary places on the skull where nerves, arteries, veins, muscles, and other stuff go through, attach to, and go around to get to other places in the body. There is truly nothing that kills your mood more than sitting and staring at a human skull, with a list of the landmarks you need to identify, and somehow get into your brain. Finding them is not difficult; remembering what goes into/onto them is the challenging part.
In cadaver lab, as we have been encountering the spine, head, and neck, we have had some really interesting dissections, and some very tedious ones. Earlier this week, we got to dissect the spinal column. It was the most amazing lab EVER!!! Here's why: after removing the muscles of the back, we found the vertebral column, and after scraping away as much of the remaining muscle tissue on the vertebrae, I got to use an electric autopsy saw to remove the back of the spinal column from the ribcage to the tailbone, in order to visualize the spinal cord. Using the autopsy saw was really cool, because it's designed to only cut through hard tissue, like bone, but spare soft tissue. Theoretically, you can hold it up to your own hand while it's running, and it won't touch you. However, I don't dare try it, just in case it malfunctioned for some reason :-P. Anywho, after removing the spinal column, I saw the spinal cord. It's actually relatively small in diameter (only about 1-2 cm thick) considering how important it is, but it was still the coolest thing I have seen this semester. I was acting like a 9 year-old in a candy store the entire lab, because I was so fascinated and excited to see the spinal cord.
Today's lab was not so exciting. It was face dissection day. I will spare you the details, but after we removed the dressing that kept the face covered for the last 7 weeks, we spent nearly 4 hours trying to remove the skin and find extremely delicate structures located in the face, and covered by very thick connective tissue. Needless to say, it was very tiring, even when I wasn't dissecting, and by the time lab finished, we were all exhausted and very frustrated. However, we get to open up the top of the skull and pull out the brain next week, so I am trying to stay positive, and get pumped up for the part of anatomy lab that I have been waiting for all summer. It will be interesting to see what we find, not only in our cadaver, but everyone else as well; many of the cadavers died from strokes or brain bleeds, so it will be interesting to see if there is obvious evidence of brain death/damage when we open up the skull and pull out the brain.
That's all for now; sleep sounds so nice right now.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Balance is the key word
In PA school, everything is (supposedly) all about maintaining balance. Being able to integrate and synthesize the massive amounts of knowledge being thrown at me, while having an outside life and remembering to care for myself at the same time is sometimes easier said than done. However, I find that I actually have quite a large amount of time for myself and my personal interests, even though school is very difficult at times.
The first round of exams arrived and passed more than 2 weeks ago, and I am still here. The first Anatomy exam was killer, but I was surprised to find out that I had done incredibly well, so I was very happy, but at the same time, there wasn't a whole lot of time to celebrate, as it was immediately on to new material.
After the hell of the upper extremity during the first unit, diving into the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis was really exciting...the "blood and guts" of anatomy is what really makes me go...it's just so fascinating. It's where pathology is most evident, and my classmates have found some incredibly fascinating things in their cadavers. There were several pacemakers found, evidence of central lines, surgical procedures (including several people who had multiple coronary bypass operations) and several cases of "organomegaly," or enlarged organs. One cadaver had a heart that was nearly 5 times larger than normal, evidence of severe heart-failure.
However, the thorax and abdomen presents its own set of problems, such as the fact that there is SO MUCH going on once you peel back the anterior abdominal wall. There are so many different organ systems represented, and arteries traversing over veins, nerves, lymphatic drainage ducts, and other things.
Round 2 of exams started today with Physical Diagnosis, which I did really well on, but there are still 2 Anatomy exams (thorax/abdomen, and then, after spending only 1 week on the lower extremity, another exam exactly 1 week after the upcoming one on the 19th), a patient-chart note, and a simulated patient interview on the last day of July. The next two weeks are absolutely pure-hell, and I yearn for it to be August 1st already, and for this mess of exams to be behind me. After this, it's 3 weeks in the head and neck, which I'm super excited for, especially when we dissect out the spine/spinal cord, brain, and peripheral nerves. Since neurosurgery is one of the specialties that is high on my list, I am extremely interested in all things neuro. As I said, 3 weeks in the head and neck, and the Anatomy exam associated with that, and 1 Physical Diagnosis comprehensive physical examination, where we are put in a room with standardized patients and graded on our physical exam techniques.
My brief summer break seems so close, and yet, so far away. Think good thoughts for me over the next two weeks. I love and miss you all!
The first round of exams arrived and passed more than 2 weeks ago, and I am still here. The first Anatomy exam was killer, but I was surprised to find out that I had done incredibly well, so I was very happy, but at the same time, there wasn't a whole lot of time to celebrate, as it was immediately on to new material.
After the hell of the upper extremity during the first unit, diving into the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis was really exciting...the "blood and guts" of anatomy is what really makes me go...it's just so fascinating. It's where pathology is most evident, and my classmates have found some incredibly fascinating things in their cadavers. There were several pacemakers found, evidence of central lines, surgical procedures (including several people who had multiple coronary bypass operations) and several cases of "organomegaly," or enlarged organs. One cadaver had a heart that was nearly 5 times larger than normal, evidence of severe heart-failure.
However, the thorax and abdomen presents its own set of problems, such as the fact that there is SO MUCH going on once you peel back the anterior abdominal wall. There are so many different organ systems represented, and arteries traversing over veins, nerves, lymphatic drainage ducts, and other things.
Round 2 of exams started today with Physical Diagnosis, which I did really well on, but there are still 2 Anatomy exams (thorax/abdomen, and then, after spending only 1 week on the lower extremity, another exam exactly 1 week after the upcoming one on the 19th), a patient-chart note, and a simulated patient interview on the last day of July. The next two weeks are absolutely pure-hell, and I yearn for it to be August 1st already, and for this mess of exams to be behind me. After this, it's 3 weeks in the head and neck, which I'm super excited for, especially when we dissect out the spine/spinal cord, brain, and peripheral nerves. Since neurosurgery is one of the specialties that is high on my list, I am extremely interested in all things neuro. As I said, 3 weeks in the head and neck, and the Anatomy exam associated with that, and 1 Physical Diagnosis comprehensive physical examination, where we are put in a room with standardized patients and graded on our physical exam techniques.
My brief summer break seems so close, and yet, so far away. Think good thoughts for me over the next two weeks. I love and miss you all!
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