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.