Last set of finals

Monday is our pathophysiology final and Thursday is our pharmacology final, and then we are DONE! Only two more test left, and then it is gonna be a great week doing all the things on this island that we haven't got to do yet. Lots of plans including sleeping in, having our last BBQ, and letting Shiloh hunt for crabs at the beach all day. We sold the car which is great, except for the fact that we don't have a car now.

5th term class photo

 

 

We did have a great Thanksgiving here in Grenada, lot of friends came out, pot luck style.

#1 thing I am gonna miss about Grenada??
- FRIENDS!!!!

1 month and we will be home

Round 2 of test are over, and Sunday we took our 2 year test which was from 9-5! We have our clinical skills test this Friday, and our NMBE (practice USMLE) on the 28th. Our finals are on the 5th and the 8th, and we leave on the 15th. So exciting, to be finishing up here. Since we had test during Halloween, the 5th termers decided to have our own Halloween party. For me it was more of a girls night out!

Just the girls! D, A, and Z

 We went to some friends birthday party.

It is a balance to study but still spend some time with our friends that we will be leaving soon. Well you know what they say, "B's get degrees!" 

Pumpkins

It is just not fall here, and I am jealous of everyone going to the pumpkin patch today! Today is Sandblast here, which is a big party on the beach that the school host as a "good job on midterms." In 5th term we have 3 test so we are between test 1 and 2, so we don't have the weekend off, and will be studying today instead.

My last pumpkin, been too long

Still doing our insanity workout, and it is still just as hard as it has always been, I am pretty sure at some point it is supposed to get easier! We have had a few clinical meetings, mostly about GPA's and financial aid, but still it is exciting to start talking about clinicals. We have several meeting in November and we will put in our request for clinical spots then. But first I have to figure out the different lymphomas. Hematology is NOT my favorite subject.

71 more days

The 1st set of test are over! D and I did well, A's and B's all around! Excited! Unfortunately the weekend off was really short, but that may be because I slept through a big part of it. We did have a great BBQ Friday night, a bunch of friends came over and we cooked hamburgers. (with real American beef)  1st termers have their midterms next week, and I am so glad that is not us. They have a long ways to go! I vividly recall the half way mark and being so excited, and now we are counting down the days till we are home. Of course the real break will come after the USMLE, which is what everyone is focused on now. Back to the books, later :)

http://convozine.com/14502-april-terry

Test start next week

So 5th term has been moving right along. Pharmacology is kinda tough, a lot to memorize. One of the things that we do as 5th termers is go to the local hospital once a week. D and I go on Thursdays. At first, I really didn't know if I would like it, just because it takes up all Thursday morning from 8-12. That is a lot of time that I could use to sleep/study. Anyway on the first trip I was really surprised. First this is not a hospital setting that I am accustomed to. We were on the 1st floor on the men side. Yes, the hospital is separated into a women and men side. As I walk into a large room, there are 2 partial concrete walls dividing the room into 1/3s. The first 1/3 had some tables and chairs where some men were eating breakfast. The 2nd part was 8 beds, 4 on each wall, this was repeated in the 3rd part of the room. On the side was a nurse desk. Each bed had a curtain that could be pulled around the bed for privacy, but none of the men had the curtain pulled.

I tried to "draw" it in word so you could kinda see what I am talking about

On one wall was all windows. There is of course no air conditioning so the window were all open. Also there were no mosquito screens on the windows. There were ceiling fans, thankfully. The patients each had a small night stand beside there bed to put stuff on. As I watched the nurse pass out medications, she did not bring them water, but most had there own water bottle beside there bed. Also, the patients did not wear hospital gowns, but most had in a tank-top and boxers. Which was much cooler than we get to dress. We must dress professionally as well as wear a long sleeved white coat. That coat is super hot! Our groups are small 4-5 people and we are assigned a different doctor each week. The doctor will introduce us to a pt, then leave us to take a full history and do some physical examinations. We then meet with the doctor to talk about what we found and then we must give differential diagnosis and of course defend our diagnosis. I really enjoy talking to the doctors about the cases, I am a bit surprised that I understand what they are saying and feel competent to carry on this conversation. Although I am not always right, at least I understand the question!

A picture of me and my mammaw from this summer

Not only is everyone studying for our classes, but also for the USMLE, so it is kinda hectic. Also, our last term, there are still a few more things on this island that I want to do, so after test are gonna be the only time to do them. Kinda seems weird to see football on when it is still so hot here, I do miss the seasons.

photos

photo place

5th term has started

5th term is in full swing, I still cannot believe this is my LAST semester!! I had such a great summer, and I am so glad that my dad got to come see Grenada.

beach

J'ouvert

We get to do hospital rotations this semester and we did our first one last Thursday. I really like it, except it was really hot there. The hospital is not air conditioned so they just have open windows, which wouldn't be so bad but we have to dress up PLUS wear long sleeved lab coats. Classes are going well so far, the only one with really new material is pharmacology, seeing as how I am awesome with pronunciations (yeah right), you can image this is a lot of fun! I am going to meet some friends for pizza and then call it a night, this getting up early thing sucks!

I have a Nikon D200!!!!!

So, I have been looking at DSLR cameras for months now, and I had finally decided on getting the D200 with a 18-200 lens. At last, one was on ebay in my price range, and the deal was struck. I watched the UPS tracker everyday since July 1st. D said that it was not a the Santa clause watcher, but I beg to differ! So on Friday, around 2 p.m. it finally arrived! As I opened it, I was so excited, of course the battery was not charged but what was worse is that the person had forgot to include the battery charger. I emailed her, and of course she apologized and said that she would ship it on Monday. Really?! I don't think so. D and I took a trip to Frys, his favorite computer store to look for a charger. They had one left, $29.99. We went home, put it on, and all I got was a green light. It stated clearly that the light was supposed to be red when charging. This charger also had a usb port, so I tried charging my ipod ... green light. Great, the only charger and it does not work. D assured me that about an hour away was another Frys and we would go the next day. So I could only hold the camera, no turning it on. Yesterday we got ready to go hunt for a charger. We finally found the perfect one! It charges from a car, a wall plug, it even has a British adapter and works on foreign voltage! $2.99. I got two. So the battery was charged last night about 10, and I finally got to turn it on. Patience is not my strong point.

 These photos I took 4th of July with my old Fuji.

Back in the states

We landed in TX last night around 6:00. It is great to be back in the states. It is funny how used to driving on the wrong side of the road I have become. It seems so strange pulling out into traffic. Also, hot water in the kitchen sink. I keep forgetting. Oh, and dishwashers are one of the best inventions ever! The hamburger from Chili's was better than I remember.

Some pictures of E's garden. :)

a pseudo home

It is official, we are 5th termers! We have not gotten our CPD grades back, but path is out, and we both passed! I can hardly believe that this horrible term is over. Finally!

We both feel like flying!

 

 

 The 3rd termers are arriving back on the island just as our term is starting to depart. It has been a long time since I have been home, and I am really looking forward to it. It kinda seems weird to be leaving. Grenada has become a pseudo home, at first it was a very strange place, but now I know the roads and stores and places and it is not unfamiliar. It has even become ordinary. We all live here, but we don't think of it as home, because we know it is temporary. I have made some really good friends on this island, and I have said goodbye to 2 really great friends. It is sad, but part of the temporary. When we come back in August, we will only have 4 months left, and that is gonna be awesome, but it still seems a bit surreal. Hopefully my time home will not fly by as fast as it did last summer. I am really glad that I have had my best friend with me on this adventure!

Tomorrow is the big day

Pathology final 9 a.m. in the morning. Doing some practice problems, then to bed. Will feel much better this time tomorrow!

Shiloh loves these kittens, photo taken by K

Last lecture of 4th term!!

Today, we sat in on our last lecture of the term. :) We have lab this afternoon, and that will be our last lab. Big study day, and test start Friday. I was beginning to think this week would never come, and as all things, once it gets close to what you have been waiting for, time will speed up. I took a few pictures yesterday.

My friend A

I have a friend who has an AWESOME camera, and since his wife and baby just left to go back to the states, he said he wouldn't be using it, and ask if I wanted to borrow it. THANKS, really, how can I say no, and yet all I have time for is studying. I said Yes. I am thankful to get to play with such a cool distraction!

My friend R

The count down!

June 17: CPD lab final -Me
June 20: Path final
June 21: CPD lab final -D
June 24: CPD written final
June 25: SLEEP
June 29: LEAVE FOR USA!

Nutrition is over

Go right now and eat some fruits and vegetables! D and I took our nutrition final on Monday, and we both did very well, and it is nice to come out of an exam not feeling like you are on the wrong planet. We now only have 2 classes left for the rest of the semester, CPD and pathology.

Studying still, and counting down the days till we leave. Hurricane season starts today, and oddly enough there are black clouds in the sky and it is quite windy.  I am sure that doesn't mean anything!? We have a CPD quiz tomorrow, so gotta get back to work. One more class down.

My friend K, who practice her photography skill on us, Shiloh was being really good!
K's blog

yellow flowers

small bush in front yard

some pics

so ready to be done with 4th term!

Enough with these horrible test! We have all of our grades back. We both passed Micro, yea, that class is over! We did very well in CPD, we both got B's on our lab, and A's on the written test. However, we both failed the pathology test. We knew that we did poorly on the test, but we were very disappointed b/c we studied so hard, and felt confident that we knew the material when we went to take the exam. The test was unfair, and I am not just saying that b/c we did bad. The class average was a 61. The average for the 1st exam was an 82. A 20 point drop is unheard of. That is an average of  around 500 students, who apparently studied well for the 1st exam. Not to mention, that over 100 of those student are retaking the course, and have already taken the 2nd path exam last semester. We both did very close to the class average, but obviously that is not the grade we were hoping for. A lot of student (many of our friends) are having to decide if they can continue with the class, or if they have to drop it. We are fortunate that we did well on the 1st exam, and also that our GPA can hold up to a 13 credit hour C, without dropping below a 2.5. That is the cutoff that the school allows. Also some of our friends are already on probation, so they can't take a C, and if they do then they would be kicked out. One of our friends in that situation actually got an A on the 1st exam. It sucks! There are a lot of meeting happening between the dean and the path dept and the student government. Hopefully we will get the curve that we have been petitioning for. Not sure how it will all work out, but for now we must continue studying. We have a new class, nutrition that just started. It is a short 2 week class, so we hope to do well in that one. Trudging on, ready for this term to end!

This is my best one so far, I think. It is D's favorite as well.

In other news, one of my friends is teaching me some basic photography. I have always loved to take pictures, but never really had a clue what I was doing. I really enjoy it, and so I am going to try practicing around 10 mins a day. Everyone needs 10 mins of fun a day! What I have really found is getting the right light is about using different setting to get the aperture and the iso and the shutter speed correct, which is quite mathematical in a sense. But even if the light is perfect but the object is not interesting, no one cares. So photography feels like the perfect blend of science and art. I am quite fascinated and it is nice to have someone teaching me. So you guys might have to put up with a lot photos. Shiloh is my best model.

Tomorrow is the last of the crazy week

Tomorrow is a big day, we finish our insane marathon of test, and we also should be getting out grades back from last week. I am honestly more concerned over the grades of last week, than the upcoming test. Mondays pathology exam went pretty horrible, so I am not ready for that grade. This is week has been by far the most stressful since we have been here, and I am ready for it to be over. When the test is over, I plan on coming home and watching the finale of survivor and then going to sleep. Maybe we will take Shiloh to the beach if it doesn't rain. Unfortunately class and labs start back on Tuesday, also we start nutrition. The 5th termers are finished and they are all leaving the island. Jealous! Going to bed.

week before test

Doesn't it seem like we just finished a round of test? Anyway, our 2nd Path test is Monday 5/9, CPD lab midterm is Wed 5/11 for D and Thur 5/12 for me, Micro final is Fri 5/13, and CPD written midterm is Monday 5/16. So we won't be busy killing ourselves studying or anything. Micro will be over, but then Tuesday 5/17, we start nutrition class. This is a shorter class that only last for 2 weeks. All of the other terms are having finals in the next two weeks also, but they will be finished and going home. All the 5th termers are having yard sales on campus, getting rid of all their stuff, as they will be leaving for good. So in a couple of week, campus will be pretty empty, just us 4th termers will remain.

Shiloh on her new dog bed

Shiloh got a new dog bed at one of the 5th term sales. She likes it for day time naps, but seems to think the end of our bed is still best for nighttime. After the test week, we are planning to take a trip to the top of the island to watch the Leather-back sea turtles lay there eggs. They are an endanger species, that come once a year and lay eggs on Levera beach, one of the northern beaches. There is no flash photograph, and we go at night, but hopefully I can get a few decent photos.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone found all of their eggs and such. We are really enjoying our 4 day vacation, by that I mean, we are just doing more studying because we do not have class and lab to interrupt us. Both our neighbor R, and our friend K, are enjoying there mothers coming to see them. We are all having Easter dinner tonight with our landlord S. I am bringing pickapepper and cream cheese, b/c my best friend H, showed me how to make the best/easiest appetizer that always works! Shiloh had a great time finding the Easter eggs we hid. Just kidding, although we did hide dog treats, she was way more excited by this than she would have been about eggs.

We finished our Spanish selective, in which our final was a presentation on a health problem in the Latino community. We choose hypertension, and we made a voice over movie of Jersey Shore. Tacky, I know, but hilarious! Spanish Final Here is the youtube link. Back to more flashcards, gotta get done so I can enjoy Easter dinner!

What was I thinking, I could have been a trophy wife!

School is really getting crazy! Apparently someone forgot to tell the school schedule that there is only 24 hours in a day, and some people require food and sleep to continue living. One of the girls in my CPD class was saying yesterday, that she could have used the tuition money, gotten lots of plastic surgery, and been a trophy wife. Too late now I guess! Micro and Path are really piling up, and for some reason, it seems like everyday I study, yet I never get it all done. Hopefully this weekend will be extraordinary! We do get Easter break before our next test, so that is going to help out a ton. Counting down the days till we leave, we are ready for a vacation.

D says this is what everyone thinks we do all the time!

Shiloh's 2nd Birthday!

Our micro test was Friday, and so was Shiloh's 2nd birthday. We just got our grades back, and we both received B's in both classes. We were really excited and beat the class average in both classes. After our test Friday, even though we were very tired, we had a cookout for Shiloh's birthday.

Birthday girl

K and R lighting the candles

K and A with Shiloh's cake

Our sweet neighbors made her a cake and card!

2 years old!

The horrible week came to an end, and we had a great time!