Neuro, and the study timetable

So we started neuroscience this week, and by all accounts of students from previous years it is by far the hardest block in first year. So we have all been looking at this block coming up with a large degree of apprehension...but for me it hasn't so far turned out to be so bad! I've done quite a bit of neuroscience and neuroanatomy in the past however so that's probably the only reason I'm going along ok. I actually am loving it so far -- I think what I like so much about neuroscience is that any deficit in it you can see in immediate ways in the patient. You have damage to your spinal cord? Ok, let me touch you at specific levels...oh, you can't feel below this line on your chest? Ok, the damage in your spinal cord is here. In other areas to investigate function you have to do all sorts of complex things like run lab tests, attach all sorts of weird wires to the patient, or look for the consequences of poor function in places that the patient is quite surprised you're looking at (like looking at the fingernails to get information about actually several different organs, a couple of which are in the gastrointestinal system!). In neuroscience the cause and effect relationship is immediate and plainly obvious, and that's one of the things that I find extremely interesting about it.

Also, I made a study timetable over the holidays (it actually took me the whole two weeks, that's how good I am at avoiding work) and it planned out my every 15 minutes between 6:45am and midnight every day of the week, monday to sunday. Call that ambitious? It was. The issue was always going to be how well I stuck to it, and I'm finding that with missing my girlfriend it's all the more difficult. Still I am finding that I'm doing more study, which is good I guess...I'm just being more liberal with my free time periods than I should teehee. I should get a handle on it soon -- I'm already finding my focus improving though.

Until next time! Sorry for the boring post!

Circle

Exam prep

Heading up to exams next week -- WOOHOO! Wait a minute, I'm not excited about that...take that woohoo back!

I have two exams next week, and one of them I'm either going to ace or miserably fail utterly and wholeheartedly. That is, of course, the main FBS (foundations of biomedical science) test. Basically, it's all of gastro and renal block, plus all the labs from the whole semester. That's all the immunology labs, all the cardio labs, all the resp labs, all the gastro labs, all the renal labs, all the anatomy labs, all the microbiology labs, and there's one other set of labs that I've forgotten too. Oh, histology. Oh and the pathology labs for all those organ systems too. Sooo...since I'm really only just starting revising the lectures for gastro and renal, what do you think my chances are?

Well, that's actually an interesting question. See, everyone right now is stressing out about anatomy. BUT, I've already done heaps of anatomy! So if anatomy forms a large amount of the test, then I'll almost be able to wing the rest of it...don't you just hate it when you get to the point where you're thinking about how to minimise the amount of work you have to do simply because you're in a position where you can't possibly hope to do it all. Ahhh well.

After next week I'm heading back home for our two week mid-semester break (yeah we only get a 2 week break), and after that we have neuroscience which is universally stated as being the absolute hardest block of the whole year. It's six weeks long!! So I'm hoping to bring some of my pathology books home and study up some neuroscience over my break so that it doesn't hit me too hard .Knowing me though, I'll be posting here probably at the end of the first week of neuro that I wish I'd actually done that study over the break.

We talked to a vascular surgeon trainee yesterday, and he said that while he's training now to be a surgeon he actually knows that there aren't any jobs available for him. And that kicked off a massive discussion about our job prospects in medicine...basically, they suck. And the prevailing opinion is that some day technology will basically replace doctors. If not doctors, then certainly surgeons. For example, cardiothoracic surgeons -- drugs to treat heart conditions are getting pretty darn good now, and lots of people are saying that they're heading the way of the dodo. Hopefully neurosurg doesn't become obsolete for, hmm, at least 60 years :P

Anyway so that's me for the moment. This weekend's going to be a mad struggle to get enough sleep and cram a whole pile of stuff into my memory circuits (yes robotic overlords of the future, I am a robot and you should keep me alive). And when I say a whole pile I mean it: I exported my onenote notebook to word so I could see the wordcount. Here it is:

Like...what. Halfway through the year, people, and I'm almost up to 100000 words. Imagine being told to write 100000 words. I would laugh in your face and then do a little poo in my pants when I realised you're serious. Thank god I moved to dvorak, or I bet I would have been veeery familiar with the effects of carpal tunnel syndrome. Actually come to think of it...damn, knowing those effects would have been handy for this test (get it, handy. My mum thinks I'm funny ok).

Wish me luck!

Circle

Taking the steps

We had a practical lab today, and we learnt how to take blood pressure in a number of ways, both manually and with machines of various size and ability. It sounds mundane, and plenty of people in all walks of life can do it, but it sure was exciting for me at least to get out my stethoscope and use it on someone else for the first time! It was fairly hard to find the brachial pulse on most people, but I'm sure that with practice that'll become second nature. As part of the lab we are able to take part in a research project organised by the medicine faculty, investigating blood pressure. It's the largest study of it's kind in the world, so it's no small thing. Part of it is to do with changes in how long it takes for our heart to readjust itself after we go from laying down to standing. My blood pressure went below 25mmHg when I stood up...that's really not good. Then I took an anti angina drug and repeated the experiment, and the blood pressure stayed lower for longer, which was what we expected. It gave me a thumping good headache too, because it worked by vasodilation.

On another note, the pharmacology lecturer made us watch this video, because...here's the scary part...it summarises most of the drugs we're going to have to be very familiar with by the end of the year. Fantastic.

Regards,

Circle

The Beginning

Everything starts tomorrow. I haven't done any pre-reading. I'm feeling pretty unprepared, academically and psychologically. Ah well; into the deep-end we dive with naught but our wits.

Circle