So last night I was using the internet to learn, yet again, and I came across this amazing site about amino acids, any science/literature nerd will agree that their lives are now complete:
Amino Acid Tales
And now for something a little less awesome and much more awkward. The following video clip is how one of our anatomy professors tried to teach us about systole and diastole...
...it was a sad day.
Back to studying for tomorrow!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
It never ends...
...it just keeps coming and coming. Last Friday was Antillean Day so we had the day off, which in med school doesn't necessarily mean a day off, it's just another that can be spent studying and I'll give you one guess who did that. There were a bunch of parties going down on Thursday but I decided to stay in and just get some me time in, watched Volver and got some good sleep. The next day we went "hiking" on Pic Paradis, we left at 9:30am to avoid midday heat but that was difficult because the French side was packed since they apparently don't observe the day. So the drive there was fun and we didn't really know where to go (what else is new). We kept driving up until the path become dirt and rocks, where the Green Machine would not have been too happy to climb.
So anyway we are getting ready for this huge hike up the hill and it is already very humid. On the plus side for some reason there was a huge concentration of butterflies up there, which made it seem like we were on the set of some fairy movie. So we are climbing up and few minutes later we come to a view point which is BEAUTIFUL. Not only were there shadows from clouds on the hills but we could see the Caribbean Sea and pretty much the whole Dutch side of the island, along with neighboring islands (I believe two were St. Barts and Saba). We could see the school and the lagoon and the two major cities of the island, Phillipsburg and Marigot. The view was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I could study up there because it was so serene.
Now for the good part...so on the way down we met an American couple that was on their way up. They told us that some cars had been broken into and the lady that lived by where we parked had called the police. We met the French police on the way up, and they didn't speak a lick of English and closest we had was Spanish. So after a bit of confusion we learned that they were asking if we saw "a little black man." We had not and they told us not to touch the car because they wanted to get fingerprints. However we did not leave anything in the car and even left the doors unlocked incase of something like this. Either way they let us go after checking everything out and we went on our merry way, although this did give us a taste of what people had warned us about.
To be continued....after the anatomy review....maybe....
So anyway we are getting ready for this huge hike up the hill and it is already very humid. On the plus side for some reason there was a huge concentration of butterflies up there, which made it seem like we were on the set of some fairy movie. So we are climbing up and few minutes later we come to a view point which is BEAUTIFUL. Not only were there shadows from clouds on the hills but we could see the Caribbean Sea and pretty much the whole Dutch side of the island, along with neighboring islands (I believe two were St. Barts and Saba). We could see the school and the lagoon and the two major cities of the island, Phillipsburg and Marigot. The view was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I could study up there because it was so serene.
Now for the good part...so on the way down we met an American couple that was on their way up. They told us that some cars had been broken into and the lady that lived by where we parked had called the police. We met the French police on the way up, and they didn't speak a lick of English and closest we had was Spanish. So after a bit of confusion we learned that they were asking if we saw "a little black man." We had not and they told us not to touch the car because they wanted to get fingerprints. However we did not leave anything in the car and even left the doors unlocked incase of something like this. Either way they let us go after checking everything out and we went on our merry way, although this did give us a taste of what people had warned us about.
To be continued....after the anatomy review....maybe....
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Post Block 2
This is what Indian medical students do after AUC block exams:
The crew went out to Orient Bay Beach after the exams and we hung out there for a few hours just relaxing. Ms. Georgia and the Patel went parasailing; Roommate, The White Guy, and RT jetskiied; and Loud-mouth and I (surprised to see Loud-mouth didn't refer to me?...so am I) wanted to try the water trampoline but they brought it back as we were about to go. The video clip above is me and RT doing a Kaho Na Pyar Hai dance, to follow the Hrithik headshot. As you can tell we had a blast and it definitely helped us de-stress.
In the evening a bunch of us went out to Lady C, a pretty cool boat-shaped bar that goes into the lagoon. We were the first few people there and started out by celebrating South Dakota's and Ms. Georgia's birthdays with Duck Fart shots (Bailey's, Kahlua, and Crown Royal...don't knock it before you've tried...it's simply the best drink you'll ever have). We got a few rounds and met some wealthy people who owned a nice boat and made friends with them. It was pretty dead there so we decided to meet our other classmates who were probably at Sunset Beach Bar, sure enough it was pretty much an AUC party. The night was awesome and consisted of dancing, sweating, and more dancing. Oh also we beer bonged before going out, which was definitely an experience (drinking a whole beer within a few seconds). All in all it was a great way to celebrate!
The crew went out to Orient Bay Beach after the exams and we hung out there for a few hours just relaxing. Ms. Georgia and the Patel went parasailing; Roommate, The White Guy, and RT jetskiied; and Loud-mouth and I (surprised to see Loud-mouth didn't refer to me?...so am I) wanted to try the water trampoline but they brought it back as we were about to go. The video clip above is me and RT doing a Kaho Na Pyar Hai dance, to follow the Hrithik headshot. As you can tell we had a blast and it definitely helped us de-stress.
In the evening a bunch of us went out to Lady C, a pretty cool boat-shaped bar that goes into the lagoon. We were the first few people there and started out by celebrating South Dakota's and Ms. Georgia's birthdays with Duck Fart shots (Bailey's, Kahlua, and Crown Royal...don't knock it before you've tried...it's simply the best drink you'll ever have). We got a few rounds and met some wealthy people who owned a nice boat and made friends with them. It was pretty dead there so we decided to meet our other classmates who were probably at Sunset Beach Bar, sure enough it was pretty much an AUC party. The night was awesome and consisted of dancing, sweating, and more dancing. Oh also we beer bonged before going out, which was definitely an experience (drinking a whole beer within a few seconds). All in all it was a great way to celebrate!
The second round...
So we had our second block exams this past Monday. Upper semester students and professors claimed that this was the hardest block, mostly due to covering Head and Neck in Anatomy since there are a million things to learn and memorize. The whole block was quite amazing even if there was a lot to cover, most of the material was interesting at the very least. Most of the Anatomy was just understanding innervation of the head and neck and how vastly complicated it is, and tying the Embryology aspect into really helped understand why the order of organization is so chaotic. The Molecular and Cell Biology was purely memorization since there is not much logic to the rules of replication, transcription, and translation of genetic material, regardless it just somehow makes sense to me (either the Cell Biology course I took sophomore year at BU was that incredible or my memory is better than I thought). The Histology lectures were haphazard at the very least but Dr. Gilloteaux is amazing, if not just through his accomplishments, then definitely through is ability to teach material he is so passionate about.
I studied a lot through out the block, although I could have paid more attention to Histology, and I did much better than I thought I would after the exams. I vastly improved from the first block overall but I stayed fairly stagnant in the written portion of the Anatomy exam. I think that was partially due to the professors stressing certain material in the lectures and testing on much of the information that was barely touched. In all honesty I can't be too upset because we had the notes and all the information was in the lecture notes. Either way I think I have figured out a better way to study for Anatomy and will implement it this round to see if that works better (and hopefully not worst).
And now a little bit about dissecting:
The dissecting has been awesome! We got to do a butterfly flap through the skin, which is cutting medially and having double door type flaps to either side along with a lateral cut from left to right to separate an upper and lower portion. We were instructed to leave the fat on...only to later find out that the reason for that was to get experience cleaning it off the muscle layers. Although it was time consuming we had ~12 people in group so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Then yesterday after we finished cleaning up we dissected and reflected the pectoral muscles and unfortunately the group members dissecting around there cut into the subclavian veins. We were able to find and dissect around a lateral nerve on one side, only to find out that the TAs would chomp through our beautiful work with power tools and rib cutters to open up the thoracic cavity. Of course lab had ended when they finished that but we did get a sneak peek at the organs in the thorax, which was amazing. The last two days have been great because we have been able to learn how to use all our tools and have gotten a million tips from TAs and professors, which have their ups and downs, but I think starting around the thorax was nice since the structures are very large and easier to dissect before going into the micro structures in the head and neck regions.
Just an aside I will be trying to do some more photography and will hopefully post more pictures soon...thanks for tuning in!
I studied a lot through out the block, although I could have paid more attention to Histology, and I did much better than I thought I would after the exams. I vastly improved from the first block overall but I stayed fairly stagnant in the written portion of the Anatomy exam. I think that was partially due to the professors stressing certain material in the lectures and testing on much of the information that was barely touched. In all honesty I can't be too upset because we had the notes and all the information was in the lecture notes. Either way I think I have figured out a better way to study for Anatomy and will implement it this round to see if that works better (and hopefully not worst).
And now a little bit about dissecting:
The dissecting has been awesome! We got to do a butterfly flap through the skin, which is cutting medially and having double door type flaps to either side along with a lateral cut from left to right to separate an upper and lower portion. We were instructed to leave the fat on...only to later find out that the reason for that was to get experience cleaning it off the muscle layers. Although it was time consuming we had ~12 people in group so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Then yesterday after we finished cleaning up we dissected and reflected the pectoral muscles and unfortunately the group members dissecting around there cut into the subclavian veins. We were able to find and dissect around a lateral nerve on one side, only to find out that the TAs would chomp through our beautiful work with power tools and rib cutters to open up the thoracic cavity. Of course lab had ended when they finished that but we did get a sneak peek at the organs in the thorax, which was amazing. The last two days have been great because we have been able to learn how to use all our tools and have gotten a million tips from TAs and professors, which have their ups and downs, but I think starting around the thorax was nice since the structures are very large and easier to dissect before going into the micro structures in the head and neck regions.
Just an aside I will be trying to do some more photography and will hopefully post more pictures soon...thanks for tuning in!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
About time...
I am finally getting a chance to write some more not due to being busy (rest assured that I am) but actually because the internet has been VERY unstable.
We got our first block exam results back on the 18th and in the morning I got my Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) score back which I was thrilled about. [I'll refrain from publishing actual numbers since people get really antsy about them.] So I was having a good morning up until we got our Anatomy and Histology scores back. I passed both written and practical but I was really anticipating higher scores than I actually had. But after going over the exams I realized what happened, there were only two or three questions that I had no idea about but the rest were either tricky questions or mainly dumb mistakes (doubting my gut instinct/running out of time on the practical). I should definitely do much better this block since I am not sick (and will hopefully remain that way) and since I know the style a bit better it should be easier. But then again we have different professors for this block so the questions will be different.
Also there is A LOT of more material to cover this block, mainly in Anatomy and Histology. We are covering cranial nerves and doing head and neck which has a ton of detail that we have to know. And in Histology we have the correct professor, who is actually quite eccentric and excited about the subject, which definitely helps but then again he covers so much material in one lecture that it hurts my brain. So I don't know how they will pose the questions and such but we'll find out...
Either way besides the boring stuff here are some more pretty pictures from the island:
The following is a nice little panoramic of Mullet Bay Beach after the our first set of blocks:
This one is sunrise after a night of rainy weather, shot from my balcony:
We got our first block exam results back on the 18th and in the morning I got my Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) score back which I was thrilled about. [I'll refrain from publishing actual numbers since people get really antsy about them.] So I was having a good morning up until we got our Anatomy and Histology scores back. I passed both written and practical but I was really anticipating higher scores than I actually had. But after going over the exams I realized what happened, there were only two or three questions that I had no idea about but the rest were either tricky questions or mainly dumb mistakes (doubting my gut instinct/running out of time on the practical). I should definitely do much better this block since I am not sick (and will hopefully remain that way) and since I know the style a bit better it should be easier. But then again we have different professors for this block so the questions will be different.
Also there is A LOT of more material to cover this block, mainly in Anatomy and Histology. We are covering cranial nerves and doing head and neck which has a ton of detail that we have to know. And in Histology we have the correct professor, who is actually quite eccentric and excited about the subject, which definitely helps but then again he covers so much material in one lecture that it hurts my brain. So I don't know how they will pose the questions and such but we'll find out...
Either way besides the boring stuff here are some more pretty pictures from the island:
The following is a nice little panoramic of Mullet Bay Beach after the our first set of blocks:
This one is sunrise after a night of rainy weather, shot from my balcony:
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Another day in paradise...
That shot was taken off my balcony at around 6am. You may ask what I was doing up so early, in fact I was up around 5am. Again you may ask why? I actually went to bed around 7pm yesterday because I had a headache and felt slightly febrile and I did not wake up till around 5am. I actually felt worst than the night before but my headache was gone, which was a definite improvement because I cannot deal with having a headache. Joint pain, fever, nasal clogging, and even chills I can deal with but headaches really mess me up.
Either way we actually had internet access in the morning so I decided to look up symptoms for Dengue Fever, since they mentioned it is prevalent on the island during orientation, yes I know it was a smooth move on the part of administration. Either way I did the stupidest thing a young doctor in training could do, I self-diagnosed myself. I checked out some WebMD and Wikipedia entries about Dengue and learned that there are two types, Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. The later is the really bad one, if you couldn't tell from the name, it involves bleeding from orifices and usually lays people out for a good week and has a 1-2% fatality rate if Dengue Shock Syndrome occurs. I checked said orifices and I came up clean. The virus is passed through mosquitoes that bite during the day, in contrast to malarial mosquitoes which bite at night. Since we have all gotten bitten up by a ton of mosquitoes I was starting to get scared. That and I was exhibiting the classic symptom of biphasic fever.
So after the mistake of self-diagnosis (kind of like how most of us thought we had serious psychological issues when taking personality psych classes) and the initial scare, thanks to the internet, I went to go workout and do the cross training portion of my marathon training schedule.
And of course what do I see as soon as I step out the door...yes a mosquito...and let's just say it's in a better place now (either that or scraped along the corner of the wall).
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Crazy news update...
It was around 9pm when I 'skyping' with my cousin Raj. We were just catching up on what's been happening and all that good stuff. Then he asked me if I had been running and I told him I am getting into a 3 day running and 2 day work out regiment, followed by a long run on the weekends (which I missed this weekend). Anyways I told him I had been running 3 miles before class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And then we go to talking about the NYC Marathon.
Just to fill everyone in:
Raj ran the NYC Marathon last year and I have been running long runs with him since last summer, since he got me motivated to do so. So after liking the idea of running for extended distances/periods of time for no reason I decided that I would enter to run the marathon with him this year. He recruited 5 others to at least enter the lottery, no one made it, I think most of them were relieved. Feeling a little dejected we all moved on. Then about a month and a half ago one of Raj's acquaintances mentioned that he has some connections and that he might be able to get me in, we took it with a grain of salt but decided to give it a shot.
Lo and behold he checked the entrant database while we were 'skyping' and I was a confirmed entrant!! Excited? DUH! Scared even more? YES!! We couldn't believe it, first that the guy was able to pull through, and then the fact that I had just signed myself up to run 26.2 miles in NY.
Some of you maybe asking yourselves, "How are you going to do this when you are on St. Maarten?" Well I will be flying back for three days, leaving Friday midday (November 2nd at 3:30pm) and getting back Monday (November 5th at 3pm). The race is on Sunday, and I do have class Monday but I guess I'll unfortunately be missing class, to take advantage of this opportunity (if you can call it that, although I think some of you may disagree).
The good thing is I have that following Friday off so I can catch up if need be, and it is actually around the best time possible because I will have had a block exam the week before the race.
I don't really know how I feel right now, a bit of everything I guess, but more excited than anything else. I mean running a marathon is the culmination of a runner's dream. (And yes I do consider myself a runner, and probably even more so after I run the marathon)
Well the spaghetti is almost done and I am starved!
Just to fill everyone in:
Raj ran the NYC Marathon last year and I have been running long runs with him since last summer, since he got me motivated to do so. So after liking the idea of running for extended distances/periods of time for no reason I decided that I would enter to run the marathon with him this year. He recruited 5 others to at least enter the lottery, no one made it, I think most of them were relieved. Feeling a little dejected we all moved on. Then about a month and a half ago one of Raj's acquaintances mentioned that he has some connections and that he might be able to get me in, we took it with a grain of salt but decided to give it a shot.
Lo and behold he checked the entrant database while we were 'skyping' and I was a confirmed entrant!! Excited? DUH! Scared even more? YES!! We couldn't believe it, first that the guy was able to pull through, and then the fact that I had just signed myself up to run 26.2 miles in NY.
Some of you maybe asking yourselves, "How are you going to do this when you are on St. Maarten?" Well I will be flying back for three days, leaving Friday midday (November 2nd at 3:30pm) and getting back Monday (November 5th at 3pm). The race is on Sunday, and I do have class Monday but I guess I'll unfortunately be missing class, to take advantage of this opportunity (if you can call it that, although I think some of you may disagree).
The good thing is I have that following Friday off so I can catch up if need be, and it is actually around the best time possible because I will have had a block exam the week before the race.
I don't really know how I feel right now, a bit of everything I guess, but more excited than anything else. I mean running a marathon is the culmination of a runner's dream. (And yes I do consider myself a runner, and probably even more so after I run the marathon)
Well the spaghetti is almost done and I am starved!
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