It's Over!!!!!

So, Pathology is now a distant memory. I officially finished the 3rd and last test at 12:08pm today. YAY!!!!! Overall, I thought the test was fairly easy and predictable. The questions were not 10th order like in previous tests. Also, the questions seemed to be alot more generalized...no testing of ridiculous details that none of us would remember in 10 minutes. I actually finised with almost 40 minutes left. And, since Pathology is the only class that will not allow you to leave the test early, I spent the rest of the time re-reading and looking over the questions on the one topic I had the least knowledge of....Male pathology!! How appropriate, right?? :)

Anyway, so....now I am just enjoying the moment of not having to study Path. Of course I have a stupid everlasting grin on my face. I think I will watch a movie now.....Baby Mamma is calling my name. And tomorrow morning, I get to spend the whole day cramming for my clinical skills practical. Everyone have a great day!!!

P DAY!!!

Today has arrived. The last Pathology final. :)

AHHHHH!!! Ready......set......

June 19th!!

Today is National Hurricane Awareness Day in Grenada. And I know this because of a neat little feature that is available to us here in Grenada. Something that I never had at home. Text messaging courtesy of your cell phone provider. Anytime there is a contest, or a chance to buy double the minutes for one low price, or a national event (like today) my phone makes its customary "I have a new text message awaiting your viewing" noise....and I look...and there is my message from Digicel updating me on the current news, events, and promotions. Verizon NEVER did that for me. So I guess being here has some nice perks to it.

In other news, I have been busy studying for the final Pathology test which will occur at 9 am sharp this monday. Am I prepared??? Well, I think I am. The better question is, am I prepared to answer insanely long, 10th order questions from professors who find it amusing to test us on disorders and diseases we will probably never see as physicians. Case in point.....we are constantly bombarded about this one disease called Goodpasture's which causes bloody urination and bloody cough/sputum (ask me about the pathogenesis on this one when I'm home because I know it!!). Anyway, today while I was trying to gain better insight into this disease through my search on wikipedia, I found out that Goodpasture's accounts for only 1% of ALL renal diseases. 1%!!! What?? The only doctor that will ever see this on maybe a yearly basis is a nephrologist and I know I won't be going into that field. But, we need to learn about it. Thanks Path for inundating my already swollen brain with useless material.

So, I had the opportunity tonight to try another Grenadian restaurant. We went to The Ocean Grill in St. George's. It was good. I just had a drink and appetizer....coconut shrimp and a pina colada. Yummy!!! Long story on how I ended up going out on a night when I should have been studying, but lets save that and just say that the food was very good and I definitely want to go back for lunch. If not this term, definitely next.

Well, plans for tomorrow are the following: Get up at 5:30am, make coffee and breakfast, drink coffee, wrap up breakfast, go to school, study, study, eat breakfast, study, study until 11am, workout for an hour, come home and eat lunch, shower and small nap, study, study, study, eat dinner, study, study, study, study, bedtime at 10:30pm.

Unless something really good happens this weekend (and you never know), my next post will be monday after the monstrousity. Have a great night. :)

Friday the 13th.....

Am I superstitious??? Absolutely not....because I have no time to be superstitious....I'm working hard studying for pathology. We just finished a week of Bone Path and Neuro Path and I just finished typing up my notes. Next week we get to hear lectures on Forensic Path and Skin Path. The forensics sounds fun and I am actually going to attend those lectures. The Skin packet has lots of pictures, so I may just attend those too (to see them in color).

So not too much to report here. This week has been really hectic. The nice thing is, I will be home really, really, REALLY soon!! I have been on this island for WAY TOO LONG!! And I desperately need a break. I have already been daydreaming about all the things I want to do. Go see a movie. Sushi. Chinese. Outback. Shop at Target. Shop at Walmart. Drive on the right side of the road. Of course, I can't eat too much because I need to maintain my new figure. But I can indulge a little :)

Since I don't have too much to talk about, I have decided to show you a picture of what I have to deal with here in Grenada:

These are the wonderful worms that just seem to appear out of nowhere. One minute they are not there....and the next....a worm. And these are not speed demon worms by any means. They are extremely sloooooow. So how do they suddenly appear in the middle of our dining room floor?? I have actually had the pleasure of finding out where they come from. One day, while sitting in my room....I catch something out of the corner of my eye and hear this very faint "thud" sound. I look over the side of my bed and see a worm (much like the one in the picture) that I know was not there 30 seconds before because I had just come in from getting a glass of water. These worms fall from the sky!!! No really...they do. I think they somehow make it up on to the roof, in through the rafters, crawl their way to a nice open space and drop down on to the floor. Nasty right??? I'm always nervous that one will land on me while I'm sleeping, so I make it a habit to check the ceiling every night before bed. I guess it could be worse....it could be a spider dropping down from the ceiling. I guess in the grand scheme of things I would much rather deal with quarter sized, slower than dirt worms, than quarter sized 8 furry legged spiders. :)

Bummed :(

My penguins lost to the red wings last night. It was inevitable considering Pittsburgh was a young team with little experience.....and Detroit has many experienced veterans and european players. I admit that Detroit really was the better team, but watch out for the Penguins in a couple of years when they are older and wiser!!

So today, karma came and bit me in the ***. Every monday for Path lecture we have a team based learning session where are lab groups assemble, we are given cases that we talk over, and then we spend about 45 minutes presenting them to the rest of the class. A few months back, no one in my group wanted to speak and kept insisting that I do it. I didn't feel like talking that day because I just wasn't in a very good mood. So, as our time approached I discreetly got up to "use the bathroom" and then conveniently returned when our turn was over. I know, that wasn't the nicest thing to do, but...my group was being mean to me that day. Well, today it came back to haunt me. This week, in addition to slides, we had 5 cases to do. Our group assigned the cases to correspond with the slides that we have to present. So on Tuesday, my slide was Adrenal Adenoma, and then I presented Case #2 on Cushing's syndrome. Then today, we learned that those cases were actually scheduled to be completed in lab today. They randomly picked 5 groups to come up to the front and present. And didn't our group get picked for Case #2, and wasn't that the case I presented on Tuesday...YES IT WAS!! So, my group MADE me go up and present the case. The only bad part was, I forgot what I had talked about on Tuesday ( I have been concentrating on studying Renal this week, and not cementing the details for Endocrine). But, I did okay (at least that is what my group mates said....although they are probably lying). There was one question from the professor that I was a little mixed up on, but Layne had gone up with me and she knew the answer. Overall, the moral is....Karma exists!!! So don't mess with it!!

In other news....I'm studying Endocrine tonight. In my attempt to still try for an A in Pathology, I once again have revamped my study style (this is the 3 time this semester for this class). I have decided to skip lectures, and spend that time making my notes and learning the concepts. Then, after reviewing everything, I am going back to listen to all the lectures online. The school records all of the lectures, although you can only hear the audio, no pictures. So far, this way seems to be working well for me. I'm not as confused as to what is going on during the lecture, and I feel I am able to pick up the little details that I usually miss when I'm actually sitting in class. We will see come test time if this method works.

Guess what Satuday is???? BELMONT!!!! Big Brown going for the Triple Crown. I think I will head over to school around 5pm to see history. Although, I shouldn't say that because I may jinx it. But I am rooting for Big Brown to win, and looking at the odds, so is everyone else.

Forgot to mention that Tuesday was Kaushik's b-day. Layne, Allison, and myself made him brownies (he's a choco-holic), went over to his apartment, and hung out for an hour. Of course, Kaushik's roommate Richard made a cake, so not only did I have a brownie, but that as well. Which meant that today, I had to run extra hard and long. 1 hour and 8 minutes. My knees are screaming!! But its okay, because I am deteremined to reach my final destination weight of 128 before I leave this island.

Well, enough about me....how are all of you doing??? I can't wait to be home in 3 1/2 weeks to find out. See you all soon!!! :)

150 - 30 =

20 POUNDS!!!! I have finally reached my goal....almost 4 weeks early! On January 26th I decided that by June 30th I wanted to lose 20 pounds, and I did it. The healthy way of course....eating well, exercising....plenty of water and rest. So, time to celebrate with a nice big ice cream!! No, not really....but I am having some sushi tonight, and that is very similar to ice cream (at least in my mind).

So what is next?? Well, I have decided to try and lose 2 more pounds before I leave the island. And, I have set a new overall weight goal of 125. By August that is where I want to be. Once I'm there, maintaining should be easy. Goodbye to the fluffiness!!!

In other news....I almost cried this week when my Pittsburgh Penguins were down 2-0 in the series with the Detroit Red Wings. But Wednesday put a huge smile on my face as they won game 3. I believe the next game is Saturday....hopefully they can win and even the series up.

I'm finishing up Renal Pathology today so I can work on Male Reproductive Path later. This weekend is study, study, study.... and Monday we start Endocrine Pathology (never ends....I know).

And, I leave you with this little funny moment courtesy of Yoshie, a girl in my Path group (as relayed to me by Layne). Please note that Yoshie is from Japan and english is not her first language....so many times she is looking up words online for their meaning and definition. The sentence in the case was "He has burning micturition." So here is the exchange:
Yoshie: What is micturition.
Layne: Micturition means like he needs to pee.
Yoshie: I looked it up online and it says desire to pee.....so, he has a burning desire to pee??
Layne: Laughing hysterically

Sometimes being lost in translation can be fun!!! Everyone have a great day! :)

Turtle Movie

So I tried forever the other night to get this video up on blogger. I finally converted it to another program and shortened it just a bit, so hopefully it works. Enjoy everyone!!!!

By the way...today is a holiday in Grenada (don't ask me what for). Its a gorgeous day, but unfortunately I will be sitting in the Vet building trying to catch up with Pathology :( I hope everyone has a great day.

AWESOME!!!

Wow....what a fun, fun, fun last couple of days. Lets start with Saturday. When I left you last I believe I was talking about how I was planning on going to the beach on Saturday to soak up some much needed sun. Well, it was cloudy and nasty all day. So, Layne, Alison and myself decided to go for sushi at Carib Sushi in Grand Anse. I ordered a carafe of Saki, edamame, the spicy tuna roll and the Alex roll. Now, please remember I am in Grenada, so this is no where near the variety and great eclectic tastes of the sushi back home. But, it was good. And very, very enjoyable. It was so nice to just hang out and enjoy a good meal. Of course, now I want sushi ALL THE TIME!!! I'll just have to wait for the really good stuff in July.

Monday morning I took my clinical skills written midterm. It was okay....I got an 86, so I still have an A in the class which is fine by me. Now on to part II where we learn examination of the lungs, abdomen, and central nervous system.

I just checked my micro score a few minutes ago and.......I got an A in the class. Which is great except I feel I cheated a little by just memorizing and not really learning the material, but that is okay...it will come back to bite me in the fluffy butt come Step 1 time :)

So, the absolute highlight of the past few days...last night a bunch of us traveled to Levera Beach to see leatherback turtles lay eggs!!! It was so amazing!! I can hardly describe in words but I will try. So, we set off around 7pm and after a quick stop at the store to pick up some beer (courtesy of the drunk boys in the back) we were on our way. The ride was almost an hour through the upper hills of Grenada. Once there, we had some dinner (I ordered the bbq chicken) and when turtles were spotted on the beach we headed over. It was so awesome. The turtles were HUGE!!! More than 5 feet long. I tried to take photos but because you can't use flash photography, only 1 came out okay. But I did get some great video of one turtle covering her eggs.

We were there for about an hour. We watched the female dig her hole, lay her eggs, and then cammoflage the whole area....can't have those predators finding the eggs. The guides and researchers that work/volunteer at this turtle laying preserve were all incredibly nice and helpful in answering questions and allowing us to get up close to the turtles. I was able to touch the turtle too!!! It was very rubbery, but its flipper was soft. I also purchased a royal blue t-shirt with the ocean spirits logo on it. Every little bit helps the turtles!! For more info about the turtles click here. So, overall I would say this was an awesome adventure in Grenada and I'm so happy I did it.

So, today its back to work. Female genital tract Pathology.....Yippy!!! Everyone have a great day!!

The Aftermath

The week is over!!! And I survived. It is so hard to explain how much time, effort, and energy goes into studying. Starting last Thursday with 4 straight days of Pathology and finishing up yesterday morning with a Micro cram session...my brain was screaming. But, its over and I am giving my brain a much needed break.

So, here are my results so far. Pathology went okay although I felt horrible coming out of the test. The questions were horrendously long and I almost didn't have time to finish. I felt so rushed and with many questions I simply picked my answer based on recognition alone, without really thinking the question through because I didn't have the time to think. Not to mention that the night following the Path test I had the worst dreams ever. In one of them I was sitting in front of the Path profs who were screaming at me that I was dumb and they were questioning how I ever got into SGU. Well, I still managed a low B on the test....very low B...but a B nonetheless. I still have an opportunity of attaining my goal of getting an A in this class if i work really hard in the next 6 weeks and rock the final exam. :)

The clinical skills lab exam was a joke.....JOKE!!!! Seriously, I don't know how they can say that their exams are standardized in any way shape or form with not only different patient scenarios but different tutors monitoring the exam. I did absolutely no studying for this exam, I walked in about and hour after my Path extravaganza and literally pulled the exam out of my fluffy ass....and managed a 97. My clinical tutor was really fair and unbelievably nice with her follow up questions. My exam was the following: Your patient has been diagnosed with Buerger's disease. Evaluate arterial sufficiency and report your findings. It was one of the easiest physical exams and I was done in 12 minutes. For my minor examinations I had to evaluate lymph nodes of the head and neck and check the patients sinuses for congestion. In contrast, several people I know had the unfortunate luck to pick the paper that said do a complete eye exam, which is long and tedious, and follow-up questions can be very, very hard depending on what tutor you get. I know some who did not fair as well on their exam. Luck was definitely on my side that afternoon. We have the written exam for clinical skills on monday morning and hopefully I do well.

Bye bye micro.....I officially took my last micro exam yesterday after cramming for 2 1/2 days!! Everything from the virulence factors of Streptococci to which organisms can be used for biological warfare/terrorism. Unfortunately, I barely studied for this class during the last 5 weeks because of lack of time/concentrating on Path. I wish I had the time because it is important and somewhat interesting. Who knew there were so many different E. coli strains hanging out in the large intestine. Or that rat fleas are so important in spreading dangerous organisms. But, cramming is also very helpful and rewarding when you just need to pass a test. I thought the questions were very fair so hopefully I did well. I won't know my final score until wednesday night so I'll update you all then.

Well, I was supposed to go to the beach today and do nothing but lay out and enjoy myself....but its cloudy right now and it looks like its about to pour. So, I may have to change my plans slightly (maybe some sushi and a movie instead). Either way I will just be relaxing today on an island in the carribean. Of course tomorrow is another day and I have to start my slides for Female genital tract/breast/ovary. That is right, Monday starts a whole new day and topic of Pathology. And on tuesday we start Nutrition. The work just never ends, but that is the best part of becoming a doctor!!! Have a great day!!! :)

AHHHHHH!!!

Today has finally come!!! The dreaded second Pathology test. So many students before have screamed how hard this test is compared to the first. I have been studying my fluffy butt off for 4 straight days for this test and I can only hope I have retained something. Nevermind the fact that yesterday my brain was screaming "NO MORE!!!" and wouldn't allow me the courtesy of one last slide review. Nevermind the other fact that not only do I have path from 9-12 today, but I was one of the unlucky few to also have my clinical skills lab midterm scheduled from 1:30-2:00 and because of this I had to TRY to fit in some studying yesterday (my brain was not happy about that either). Nevermind the final fact that because of the Grenada holiday yesterday, Dr. Grooms decided to throw a party which lasted pretty late into the night forcing me to extend my bedtime by a few hours. Besides all of that, I feel I am prepared. I am confident I can go into that test and do well. Stayed tuned for my follow-up where I prove that last sentence correct OR.....well, I am in a positive mode right now, so lets not think about that!! Wish me luck!!!!

Interference by Congenital Disorders of the Newborn

Today is Friday and I just spent the last 45 minutes laying on my bed with my laptop on my incredibly shrinking tummy (weight loss is still going well) watching the new episode of Grey's. Isn't that weird....considering the episode was LAST NIGHT!!! That's right......in my haste to fly through a subject that I have little interest in (see title above), I totally forgot that Grey's started at 9pm. And......I MISSED IT!!!! I can't feel too bad because Layne, my Grey's buddy, also forgot....although she didn't forget to remind me that we both forgot this morning at 7:30am while I was eating breakfast. I was so disappointed and desperate to find the episode that instead of having my usual morning breakfast over ESPN highlights, I preceded to search websites as far away as Japan looking for the episode. I did find it (thank you sidereel.com) and downloaded it....and as mentioned, just finished watching it. It was worth the scramble!!!

So today I spent most of the wonderful Grenadian day heavily involved in pooh.....i mean, in Gastrointestinal Pathology. I covered lots of info....I only hope that I can remember it all. I did break for about an hour to listen to a Micro lecture that I skipped yesterday and I heard an amazing thing. Baby rabbits can become "aerosolized". What??? I had to rewind to listen again because I apparently missed something. So, here is the story:

The prof was taking about the bacteria Francisiella tularensis, which by the way is on the CDC's Category A list for Biological Warfare/ Terrorism Agents. He mentions a colleague in New Jersey who was mowing his lawn one day in the early spring and apparently ran over a rabbit nest full of baby rabbits. Now, some of them made it but a few were "aerosolyzed" (his words not mine). Why is this important??? Because the above virus is found in wild animals like squirrels, deer, beavers, and rabbits. It is usually transmitted by ticks and when that happens you get an ulcer form of the disease with little chance of death. But, this bacteria can also infect humans by inhalation and when that happens, you get a pneumonia form that equates with almost certain death. So, because the mower made aerosolyzed bunnies, this prof had the unfortunate pleasure of breathing in the bunny/bacteria particles. In less than a week, his cough, difficulty breathing, fever, and chills progressed to a sitting on deaths doorstep disease. The doctors had no idea what this man was suffering from. What Doctor would ever think of taking a history and physical for an incredibly sick patient and ask "So, have you mowed over any cute baby bunnies lately???" Of course, once all of the "usual suspects" for pneumonia were ruled out, and more cultures were done the doctors eventually found the bacteria, were able to treat the man and he lived. The morale of the story.....well, from my point of view, even the most obscure, rarely seen/suspected disease in humans can pop up at any time in a patient....from your point of view, don't mow over bunnies!!

Everyone have a great night!!!! :)

Too much to type....

Okay, I have alot on my mind to say before I head off to bed. Hopefully, I can get it all out. Will start with studying.......BLAH!!! Too much studying. By earlier today I couldn't look at another packet, let alone finish GI (which I still need to finish). But, I'm retaining information, and that is all I need to do well on the test which is in 8 DAYS!!!!!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to have a nice break. Daniel had a friend come in to visit from Missouri. She recently graduated from school and is moving to Rhode Island for residency. So, we all (meaning Layne, Alison, Kaushik, Daniel, his friend, Gia, Amy, and Noah) went out to dinner at BB's crabshack in St. George's. I got the BB crab which is a crab and cheese sauce mix inside a crab shell. It was awesome (of course I had it before so I knew what to expect). I also ordered something new.....pumpkin fritters....basically seasoned and deep fried pumpkin........ fantastically AWESOME!! Although, since I have been eating healthy my ass (i mean rectum :) was not particularly happy with me this morning!!

I don't know if I have mentioned but I have been eating extremely well and working out since January. I made a commitment to this...plus I set a personal goal for weight loss on January 26th. I'm not going to say anything yet about how much I have lost. I'm going to wait until I reach my goal weight....so stay tuned for that update!!

So, every sunday morning Layne and I head off to campus to do laundry and workout. We get there about 7am, and are there until 8:30am. Its nice because so few people are using the washers and dryers at that time, so we are able to quickly get our stuff done plus get in a nice workout. I run on campus on these days, so because of this I normally don't eat breakfast until after my workout. Today was particularly hot. There are several steep hills I run up and I almost didn't make one. I started to get very lightheaded (my brain hates lack of food + heat + hills). But, I forced myself to keep going and felt better a few minutes later. I'm just waiting for the day when my brain says "NO MORE" and I face plant on the pavement after passing out....and then my fat fluffy behind rolls back down the hill (look out below!!!!).

Today was the IEA (honor society) mock practical and I signed up to work. Basically we set up cadaver stations for the 1st termers to practice on. It is similar to their practical final except for we ask them to fill in the blank to the questions while on the real test they get multiple choice. Today went well....I was there for about an hour. Anything I can do to help my fellow student doctor :):)

Almost forgot to mention....yesterday was Derby Day!!!!! I had to watch it on ESPN when I came home from dinner. Congrats to Big Brown.....wow that horse is fast. Will he become the 1st triple crown winner in 30 years???? Preakness is coming up in 2 weeks, so we will soon get closer to that answer. In sad news though, farewell wishes go out to 8 Belles. You ran a hell of a race against the boys....and 2nd place is great.....too bad it ended poorly.

Well, I have to start my concept map for tomorrow. What is a concept map you say??? Well....here is one:



Every week for extra credit in Pathology we can pick a topic from the previous week and do a concept map. Last week I did the above on restrictive lung diseases. Tonight, I'm doing the Stomach. Here I come H. Pylori!! Everyone have a great night!!!

May 1st

Today, I had the pleasure of having no classes because its a national holiday in Grenada!! Don't ask me for what, I really have no idea. So, instead of sitting in lecture or lab, I spent all day going over Pulmonary Pathology. Tomorrow, I have decided to skip lecture and spend the morning with my friend Cardio Path. Why am I skipping lecture....because the Prof is just not informative. His lecture slides lack that one thing that we count on from our profs....the knowledge on HOW the disease process is occuring. I am well aware that the gastro-intestinal track is fairly large and complex, and there is a lot of material to cover in a short week. Instead of having 1 or 2 slides per disease with no useful information, how about concentrating on the important diseases and give us details (I want details!!) and then tell us to read on our own for the rest. Well, the objectives pretty much say not everything can be covered....that is fine.....but again, cover the important things well with "need to know to be a successful Dr" information. Maybe its because the prof is visiting from Yale and he is confusing us with his students back in Conn. Maybe he believes we are genetically bred individuals who have mastered the ability to telepathically siphon the years of knowledge and important material gained out of his brain and download it into our own......POOF....I now know Crohn's disease....what's next?

So, tonight was episode #2 of Grey's Anatomy. Once again, it was awesome. I really like the writing on that show.....what I don't like is how they protray the "surgery residents". Come on, like the surgery resident would be telling an HIV patient she is pregnant.....NO!!! That would be an ER resident, or an internal medicine resident, or an Ob/Gyn resident. But, I understand that they need to make some drama somewhere, i just wish it was in the OR.

My week has been fairly uneventful. Study, study, study....that is what I do. Especially since we have a tests starting May 13th. I plan on reviewing for both Pathology and Microbiology (especially since I haven't even looked at this subject for weeks) over the entire weekend. And maybe sneaking in a movie on Saturday night :) Well see how the reviewing goes. Everyone have a good night!!!

License and registration.....

What is worse than being pulled over by a police officer in New York?? Being pulled over in Grenada....okay, so I wasn't REALLY pulled over. It was a check point, but to really see it from my point of view, let me entertain you with the whole story:

So on Saturday, I was coming back around 8:30am from working out on campus when up ahead was a check point. Of course I'm screwed....why?? Because I haven't renewed my license this semester. I came back in January and thought, I'm a good driver and I'll never get pulled over, so why bother giving Grenada 30EC every 3 months for some stupid piece of paper. So, of course now, on an early Saturday morning, I'm pooping my pants thinking about what I'm going to say to the police. I opened the glove compartment box to find my insurance paper and to my surprise Alison's (my roomates) license. For a brief moment I was saved...until I saw that it had expired 5 days earlier.....CRAP!! So, I slowly pulled forward to where the nice Police officer was standing and she says "We are checking for licenses, registrations, and insurance." So, I hand her the insurance paper....registrations are on the windshield and mine was current...and then I say, "Here is my license (which remember, was actually Alison's), but I just noticed its expired....I have been so busy these last few weeks with this term. I am really sorry....and I promise I will go this week to renew it." Now, you need to picture me saying that not with conviction or any amount of confidence behind me, but more in a "I promise Mom I was only going to have 1 cookie before dinner and I thought you were in the other room when I opened the package and now you have caught me and I'm really sorry" type of voice. Anyway, she handed my paperwork back and said "Okay, make sure you get it done this week....you can go". YES!!!! I made it!!! I lived to tell my roommates and the rest of the world my tale!!!

Well, true to my word, during lunch today I went to the Grenada Police Station in Grand Anse....

And, I got my licensed renewed......

And now, I am legal....until I get back in August where I will have to pay another 30EC..... maybe!!

Everyone have a great night!!! And don't forget....Episode #2 of Grey's on Thursday night. I can't wait!!!!

Hi vet building.....

So, tonight I am studying in the new vet building. Well, not SO new....it opened at the beginning of this year. Whats nice about it is its very quiet. Not many students know about this secret spot.....or, they know and just choose not to come. Either way, its great for me. Why you ask am I not at home on a saturday night pounding out path....well, every once in a while Dr. Groom's (bar on the beach nearby) hosts a local party....and everyone shows up. The music is SO LOUD, the base beat shakes the walls of our apartment. So, instead of siting in my dining room in my pajamas complaining.....i decided to come here to get work done. The only downfall will be trying to get home. There is only one road in and out....its very narrow....and on party nights people like to just stop their cars, get out and walk. Of course, they just leave theirs cars in the road because there is no place to pull over. So I get the pleasure and joy of trying to maneuver the car through the chaos. Wish me luck!!

What to talk about??? How about thursday night.....best night of my life.....why?? Because Grey's is back!!!!! I can't begin to tell you how exciting it is to look forward to something in Grenada. And I won't, because it would take all night.....just trust me.....anyway, Layne and I drove to school and sat in front of the TV at the student lounge and had the stupidest grins on our faces for an entire hour. Of course, all good things must come to an end....but then there is next Thursday!!!!!! I'm so overjoyed, i can't control myself right now!! And here is a spoiler...Addison's back!!!!

I'm getting comments from some that are asking "who exactly are your roomates??" Good question......so, sit back and relax as you watch my roommates in action!!!

Yes, my roommates are funny!! But they are also all around great. It has been a joy to live with them this term....and I think because of them, I'm not such a Grenada hater (I'll have to fill you in on this at a later time....no time now....sorry). Anyway, I love them!!! And I am also very grateful to have them around.

Well, time to get back to reviewing. I'm finishing up Cardio path now....then it's on to red blood cell disorders. Tomorrow, I get to start my slides for GI which we start on Monday. And.....in 2 weeks....we have tests!!!! I know I'll do fine in pathology.....don't even get me started with Micro though. Everyone have a great night.

Sometimes......

I love being in grenada....






Everyone have a great night!!

EXTRA EXTRA read all about it....monkey traps human!!!

Today, in microbiology class, I was reminded of one of my favorite things....listening to the insane stories, non sense words, and just plain funny comments that come out of our professors' mouths. So, in tonights blog, I am going to re-count some of these classics that occurred in this semester.

While doing infectious pathology, our professor, female bush (there is a male bush also...they are married) says something close to the following: Toxic shock syndrome toxin is found in toxic shock syndrome. Toxic shock syndrome happens when you use intra vaginal tampons. Excuse me....INTRA vaginal tampons....I guess being a woman I assumed ALL tampons were supposed to go INTO the vagina, so having that descriptive word seemed funny. Maybe there are EXTRA vaginal tampons....or INTER vaginal tampons (if you have a rectal-vaginal fistula).

Another pathology NOT so funny.....while doing environmental pathology, our professor, while trying to explain the effects of radiation on the body says: Hiroshima was an accident. Really....so the Enola Gay just happened to be flying over Japan during WWII with an H bomb on board for what??? a sight seeing mission??? when whoops....the pilot hit the wrong button....sorry Japan....I will say that I do have a friend here from Japan who is in my path group and she did not take kindly to that comment. And, it was said twice during the lecture.

How about microbiology.....we recently finished up gastrointestinal infections with Dr. Ro** (sorry, can't use her real name). She is a really great professor. But on to the point, at the end of last friday's lecture she says: "I know how you feel about alot of the lecturers here, but i can honestly say and you can honestly now tell people back at home that you have heard a lecturer talk about absolute crap for a whole week and it actually means something".

But the cake of all cakes comes from today's microbiology lecture. Our visiting professor, who was gracing us with his knowledge on central nervous infections was talking about the Simian B virus. This is a virus that is found in monkeys, yet can be transferred to humans who work closely with these animals. And how does this process occur?? Well, monkeys lay traps for humans!!! Thats right....they gather in the dark corners of their cages in research laboratories plotting and planning on how to get those evil, devilish humans. At least this is the story we were told today. I've never been in a monkey testing laboratory, so maybe its true!!

Well, I have to get back to lung pathology. Need to finish my slide on saddle embolism. I hope you all have a great night. :)

The weekend is here to save me......

I never imagined I would say this but, I am so happy the weekend is here so I can study!!! Most people say thanks for the weekend so they can relax....but not me.....not this term, and especially not after this week!!! This is the first week in 4th term that I have felt completely overwhelmed. Up to this point, I have handled the work.....the first test....everything. But not this week.

In pathology we were learning about hematopoeisis which includes disorder of red blood cells and white blood cells. There was alot of information as usual. Unfortunately, I did not have the time that I had hoped to prestudy and review before both class and lab. And because of that, for the first time, I felt lab was a complete waste of time. I wasn't learning the material. Our tutor would throw out numbers to us that I franticly wrote down yet had no clue what it meant. He would ask questions that were good for remembering and learning, except I felt I didn't even know the material yet and therefore could not answer anything. On top of this, we were given a new assignment on Tuesday called a CPC that was due on Thursday. Basically its a clinical case that we need to write up and then present to our group. The case was very long and detailed, and instead of my original plan of studying on Wednesday night, I spent over 3 hours doing this assignment. So I felt more behind yesterday than I have ever felt in medical school before.

On top of Path, we had clinical skills all week where we learned head and neck exams, eyes, ear, and throat exams, and all of the anatomy and clinical stuff related to those structures. Our first quiz is on monday and I honestly feel like I have no time this weekend to learn the material. I am not so worried about the actual exams, but knowing the questions and patient presentations requires me to read the clinical book. NO TIME!!!

I also have to find some time to squeeze in Micro study on the GI tract organsims that we learned this week. AHHHHH!!!

With all of this I am still hopeful. This morning I put a good plan into place for myself regarding this weekend. Hopefully by Sunday night I will learn everything I need to know. Of course, we start Lung path, clinical skills exams for cardiovascular and central nervous system organisms in Micro all on Monday. A big thank you to whoever devised the weekend!!!!!

April 10th??? Already....what happened to March

Wow, time is flying!!! I just realized last night what day it was....I thought I was still in March. I have come to find this term to be not only the busiest in terms of work (path, micro, and now clinical skills with there numerous labs), but it is also the most likely to be awarded "Groundhogs Day". Why? Because I have the same schedule almost everyday, Monday-Friday. I get up at 6 am, I pre-read for that days classes, I have class from 9-12pm (sometimes I have 8am class but I have been skipping clinical skills on the basis of its boring factor), then I head to the library to study. On mondays and wednesdays I have clinical skills lab from 1-3pm. On tues. and thurs. I have that same time frame to study. Monday - thurs. its Pathology lab form 3-5pm. Friday I have Microbiology lab from 3-5pm (and every other friday its Patient interviewing from 1-3....thanks clinical skills!!!). After my hectic day, I always give my brain a rest and abuse my body...i mean work out....for about an hour. Then I eat dinner, and by 7:30 I'm back to studying, doing Path slides, and more studying until 11 pm, when I go to bed and do it all over again the next day. The weekends have a slightly different schedule....but I will save that description for another day.


So, last week was test week. I got my grades back. A "B" in micro and an "A" in Path. I was very happy with the Path grade....really pissy with Micro. The questions were not in the least bit representative of what we should know as Dr's. I felt with some questions I was taking a reading/vocab test. Others I felt weren't even covered and therefore, I needed to use my best "which one sounds more micro" guessing abilities. I still have a shot to get an A in micro....I just have to really work hard for the last test. Path, I am extremely happy with. I only hope I can do as well on the remaining tests (2 more to go).



So, on saturday, I decided to take the entire day and treat myself at a resort here in Grenada called La Source. I went with my roomates, Layne and Alison, Layne's sister Danielle, and Kaushik. It was awesome!!! We paid for a day pass from 9am-6pm that included breakfast, lunch, snacks, and unlimited alchohol. Not to mention use of their pools, water activities, golfing and tennis courts. It was so nice. They also have a full spa there, but I decided against any treatments as I was trying to conserve money. But, I did learn how to play cricket from the staff there. I'm not saying I was any good at it, but I tried!!! Here are some pics....please excuse the fluff...i'm trying hard to lose it!!!








Before any of you email me to say "is this what i'm doing in medical school", you should note that this was ONE DAY of relaxation and fun since January 14th. So, I don't want to here it!!!

Alright....i have lots of Cardiovascular Path to study. Need to catch up since next week we start a new topic....hematopoeitic system!!! Sounds like loads of fun. Have a great night everyone!!

April 1st!!!

I know, I know...i'm horrible at this whole blogging thing. But I have a wonderful excuse this semester. I'm taking Pathology and the workload is kicking my ASS!!! I had my first test yesterday. Four weeks of material about inflammation, regeneration and repair, infarction, hemorrhage, shock, neoplasms, molecular stuff (still not sure what this is), environmental path., immuno path, infectious diseases, and a bunch of slides on pathologies made for one fun 3 hour test. I'm confident I did very well. I didn't ace it....but I did well.

So besides being locked in my room for the last 2 weeks studying like a fiend, what have I been doing??? Well, in the beginning of March I was inducted into IEA, which is the honor society here at SGU. I had a really nice dinner at the University Club, and I got a nice little certificate....and all because I have a GPA higher than 3.5 (yes, i'm nerdy).

That is Issac and Me with our wonderful certs (we are both a little tipsy in this pic). So then, on Easter Monday, which is a holiday here in Grenada....why I don't know, but we have off from school.....Alison, Layne, and myself decided to go horseback riding. It was a great experience...here are some pics:

So, I was riding the horse named Princess who just happened to be pregnant....great combo for me!! Overall, the scenery was fantastic and we only payed for an hour but ended up being on the horses longer. Oh, forgot to mention that in order to get to the horse trail, we had to take this incredibly long and bumpy dirt road.....no pavement....just dirt....i felt like I was in the wild west back in the late 1800's....you know, California gold rush style!!!!

Well, now its time to concentrate on Micro which is friday. I will definitely try to post more pics and stories this weekend!!! Have a great week!!!

Path starts tomorrow!!

I have come to realize that I really suck at this whole blogging thing. It probably has to do with the fact that i write in my journal almost every night....and by the time I am done with that, I don't feel like writing here.....but since tomorrow starts Path, tonight is a great time to get everyone caught up on my activities....

Feb. 15th: We had Kaushik's engagement party at our house. We had alot of fun...and many people showed up. Alison, Layne, Daniel, Steph, and myself all made appetizers. They came out really, really good!!

Feb. 22nd: After our last behavioral science exam, we went to dinner at Patrick's. Its a restaurant near St. George's in this guys house. The food was okay. It was definitely an experience that you do once and never again!!! After, we all came back and played drunk pictionary. Ask me about the videos sometime...i would love to show you!!!

Feb. 22th: As stated above.....had my last Behavorial science exam. I ended up with a B in the class. Overall, I could have done better (maybe even an A), but in the grand scheme of things does an A in this class really matter??? I'm not so convinced. I would rather have an A in a 13 credit course like Pathology, than in a 5 credit course made up of stats, epidemiology, psych, ethics, and jurisprudence. Although that last class was really fun (all about how not to get sued by your patient). Great tips!!!





Feb. 25th: started Micro class. So far, its mostly review for me....although I took micro almost 10 years ago. Its slowly coming back though. I spent most of my time this week watching movies and TV. That is all about to change very, very soon.





Layne's dad came and visited from the 23rd until the 27th. We had alot of fun. Went to the beach....went on a snorkeling trip to flamingo bay and the underwater park. Made me realize that there is alot i want to do before I leave the island. I'm thinking of coming back really early next term to do some of those things...and possibly staying a week later to finish up my excursions around the island!!



On Feb. 28th, I did the emergency medicine club IV insertion clinic. And....I GOT ONE!!!!! YES!!! Finally I successfully inserted an IV....although we had no bags to hook up so blood was dribbling out of the IV caths onto the floor. I was really psyched about it. Sej was really kind to let me poke her. Thanks Sej!!!



Went to the AMSA health fair on March 1st in St. Patrick. I had alot of fun. I only did breast exams the whole time because I went with WIM. The ride there was sickening. I felt like I was going to be sick, but once i was off the bus, i felt much better. The ride home went more smoothly. Total time on the bus was 1 hr. OUCH!!



Tomorrow starts PATH!!! Its going to be alot of work....but alot of fun too....i'm hoping to learn alot. Especially since I have felt like I have been on vacation the last 6 weeks. Its time to get down to business....hopefully, i can post more soon!!!!

Christmas Eve

So its 11:30 pm on christmas eve and I'm waiting patiently to go to bed. I have been busy all day helping my mom make christmas cookies (i got to frost the sugar cookies). Now I must find a way to cover and protect them all from the dreaded dog and cat hair flying throughout the air. Its a really tough job but I know I can do it!!!

I have decided to take a few needed days off from anything medically related, although I did tell my mom today that one particular batch of cookies looked eerily similiar to a teratoma without the hair (one sugar cookie snowman had engulphed another in the baking process). I do have alot to review and I plan on starting Thursday with some Biochem since I struggled the most with those questions on the BSCE.

What is the BSCE you say?? Its a comprehensive test at the end of year 1 that tests your knowledge of embryo, anatomy, biochem, histology, parasitology, genetics, neurology, physiology and immunology. Of course I did well on the questions pertaining to this semester's classes, but embryo and biochem did give me some trouble. So, that is where my time will be spent in the next 3 weeks before I return to the "rock".

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Have a happy holiday!

I'm sick of San Juan

So its 1:50 am and i'm in San Juan awaiting my flight to JFK which leaves at 3:30 am. I have been here in San Juan since 2 pm. The following is a synopsis of my day:

4:30 am I awoke and Alison and I headed to the airport. There were so many students there at 5 am. I managed to get through the line fairly quickly. My flight was supposed to take off at 7:10 am, but was delayed about 30 minutes.

My connecting flight was in St. Vincent and we landed shortly after 8 am. I never want to set foot in this airport again. I thought grenada was bad, this place takes the top prize for the rudest, unfriendly, rip offs I have ever seen. Customs was that only decent part (they were very helpful and super friendly) but after that it was all down hill. We had to get our bags and haul them to the check in counter (note: there is NO bag transfer with Liat airlines: they claim it helps keep costs down). We (myself and about 20 other students) are asked to fill out all this dumb paperwork. One looked like a xeroxed copy of a 5th grade art project. The bottom portion had three lines that said: connecting airline, flight number, location. So we all put down Liat, 384, San Juan. Of course, we get yelled at by the ticket counter peeps because stupid us, we should have known they meant our flight from San Juan (and not from st. vincent). They then proceed to hand check all of our baggage; all checked and all carry on. It took forever. Finally we are able to proceed to the gate but we first have to pass by the "do not pass go until you pay the leave the island fee". We were specifically told by customs and the airline workers that because we were connecting we did not have to pay the 40 EC. But convincing the sinister looking woman behind the counter of that was practically impossible. We eventually managed not to pay which was a good thing because I had no money on me and they don't take credit cards. So, once again, Liat was late by about an hour but we finally took off and landed in San Juan around 1:00 pm.

Flying Liat into San Juan is funny because the planes are so small that they park in a loading area near the concourse. We then have to walk around all of the baggage trucks, fuel vehicles, and other airport hazzards to a set of stairs. Two flights later, plus a long walk down a dark hallway, and we are in the airport and at customs. But then the real drama began, why you ask? Because the airline was supposed to give us declaration sheets to enter the country, but Liat was all out. So they told us to go to customs and they would give us some. But customs was not playing that game. They said we needed to get the paperwork from the airline. So we sat for almost 30 minutes while they tried to sort it all out. Finally someone comes with some sheets, but there were only 12 and over 30 of us. The scramble for the sheets was hysterical. Men and women, young and old were grappling and jostling for them. I just stood back because I could not believe the absolute chaos. When it was all said and done, there was still almost 15 of us that did not have any sheets. So the guy went back to get more, and when he returns 10 minutes later, he only has spanish versions. Now, I did take 5 years of spanish and I did well with the what is your name, where do you live questions. But I started to stumble with question 9-13 when instead of one word or sentence, it was an entire paragraph. So we had to find someone to translate. And the women who helped us from customs was very, very nice. She went over it line by line.

So, through customs I went....got my baggage, and now its about 2:30, so I head to Jet Blue to see when I can check-in and they say midnight. Which totally sucks, because now i have to stay in the outer concourse area with limited restaurant choices and no comfy chairs. I basically sprawled out on the floor, watched movies and Will and Grace....i had subway for dinner (with a chocoalte chip cookie) and I also had a coffee which was horrendous, made worse by the fact that I could see the starbucks inside the checkpoint (i desperately wanted starbucks!!!)

Now I'm sitting and patiently waiting for my flight at 3:30 am. Of course nothing is open inside the concourse anymore (not even starbucks). But the vending machines still work!!!! So in about 4 hours, I will be at JFK to await my next flight to rochester NY, and all of the wonderful snow we have gotten. Did I mention that i'm already freezing here in San Juan (i'm wearing shorts, sleep pajamas, track pants, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweat shirt). I'm also strongly considering getting a McDonald's breakfast sandwich. I know it will rip through my stomach, but i haven't had it in so long and i want one....and that is all that matters!!!

Almost outta here....

So it's sunday afternoon, and i'm very, very close to leaving. I should be in San Juan at this time tomorrow (YAY!!!).

This semester went well for me. I was a little scared of physio towards the end. The pulmonary section was a joke. Our prof was from UC San Diego who also worked at NASA. I'm sure in his head he knew the stuff but his ability to teach it to medical students with no Ph.D training was horrendous. Unfortunately, he never really explained anything. He would back up what he was explaining by saying "See, the graph shows this." I quickly realized that pulmonists love graphs, and probably spend hours dreaming up new ways to make graphs. I have never seen one in my life with 3 labeled sides and no title but there it was in class waiting for our interpretation. The book that the prof kept refering to was written by a well known physiologist who also didn't explain anything (and also had alot of graphs). So i spent a large part the time using two crappy references to try to understand a very, very difficult topic.

The physio test went well until question 50....that is when for the next 24 questions I struggled with trying to use my limited pulmonary knowledge to answer 10th order questions that just didn't make sense. I felt overall that i had the main concepts down in terms of what happens, I just had a hard time applying multiple ones to the questions. But, I made sure that i knew renal and endocrine really well and that definitely helped me on this test. In the end, I got a B and that was exactly what I wanted.

Neuro went extremely well. No real complaints from the test. As always the questions were fair. But i did feel the test was a little too general in asking about our knowledge which is funny since alot of people thought this was a hard test. I was surprised that we spent time on subjects like Alzheimers and there were no questions on the test. I got an A so i'm really happy about that.

I also took the BSCE (basic skills comp exam) and it went okay. I realized I need to do some major review in embryo and a little more in biochem, but the anatomy portion was good. I will get my grade back on that exam late next week.

Overall, I did well this term. All A's and B's. Next term will be a huge challenge with 13 credit path and micro on top of that. But I'm ready and looking forward to it.

Results are in.......

I passed Immuno with an A!

Which leads me to a more serious discussion that haunts medical students across the globe: what to do/say when you do really well a test, and your friends either don't, or do not get the grade they were hoping for? Its nice to be excited and pumped up, but hard to share that excitement with friends who are not feeling the same. It happens every semester, every class, and trust me, it happens to me too (case in point, physiology this term where I thought I rocked the test to find out I got a 79). One friend in particular studied her ass off and I'm serious when I say she knew more details then I did; we spent all Sunday studying and I saw her knowledge first hand. She also had an A going into the final, but missed keeping it by 2 questions.

So here is the ultimate bitch about SGU: they give letter grades. Most US medical schools are pass/fail, but SGU needs to show residency programs a grade for not only competitive purposes, but to prove the value of their graduates. And because of this, we get bit by the "one miss monster"; missing a grade by one point. Happened to me in both genetics and parasitology. Answering one more question right would have given me an A, instead......89 for both classes which is a B. And not a B+ mind you....their are no pluses here....so the person who barely studyied and may not know as much as me who got an 80 will receive the same grade (sucks i know).

This is partly why I have adapted the following policy: A's and B's are fine in medical school. I really could care less about my grade as long as it stays at least a B. I find this is much more useful because it throws alot of pressure out the window. I'm not spending time doing crazy math to deduce my chances of keeping or obtaining an A....i'm just learning.

And that brings me to a close as I have to study for physio.....a class that I need at least a B in!!!

Immuno is done!!

It has been such a hectic and crazy few days of studying for Immuno that I forgot to post about thanksgiving....so lets start there:

Thanksgiving went really, really well (considering I had a whole "I don't want to partcipate moment"). Yes, I had a temper tantrum about Thanksgiving for the following reasons:
1. We had class
2. I had studying to do
3. Could not watch football
4. Wanted to really watch football

Anyway, Layne convinced me that we needed to do it. Actually, she said " I want to do it!!! And YOU ARE DOING IT!!!" So, I relented and called my mom up for her recipe for yams, apples, and marshmallows. The dinner started at 8pm. Everyone brought a dish and the food was phenomenal. I ate so much!! It was also nice to share a nice dinner with so many wonderful people. So, thanks to Layne I had a great night with Alison, Kaushik, Danielle, Isaac, Toby, Candice, Liz, Aubrey, Steph, Matt, Kate, Chelsea, and of course Miss wonderful herself, LAYNE!!! Of course, leftovers the next day after class was great too!!

Okay, so flash forward to the weekend and I spent all saturday and sunday cramming....er...studying for immuno. The concepts and the class would be fantastic if it was taught better. I am positive the prof knows her stuff, she just can't teach well at all. Self study has been my new motto and so far it was worked wonderfully for me. By last night (sunday), I really felt there is no way I could fail this class. Keeping my A from midterm I was not so sure of, but failing would not happen.

The test today was okay. Lots of clinical questions, which I love. However, some of the questions were so long winded I had to keep re-reading to find out what the question was asking. After 70 questions, and almost 2 hours I wanted to shoot myself. I'm hoping that with the bonus questions (5 of them, and I nailed them all), that I at least got a 90. We will see sometime later when the grades are posted. I'm just happy that Immuno is over, and I can concentrate on important medical concepts like neuro and physio!!! :)

FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER!!

So, as I was taking a break from studying the wonderful world of the female reproductive system, which by the way, makes me hate my menstrual cycle even more; I stumbled upon a foxnews.com editorial on FSM. And I was like, what is FSM??? So I clicked on this website:

http://www.venganza.org/

And laughed my fluffy ass off!!! I was mesmerized, and then I wondered to myself: how do I join. I mean, being an atheist and all its so damn easy for me to switch my church affiliations anytime I want.

Actually, what really made me laugh was the reason this was on foxnews.com in the first place. I guess some church leaders and people studying theology, who will be gathering for a conference in San Diego soon, are taking this too seriously. They are having talks and discussions on the flying spaghetti monster. What?? Maybe they didn't get the message that this whole thing was a joke of sorts; well, not really a joke, but a cleverly made argument against teaching some dumb creationist theory in the Kansas school system. I shouldn't say the theory itself is dumb...no, what's dumb is having it in the public school system. That is dumb. If you want to teach it, build your own church/school and or teach it in Sunday school.

Anyway, so these three theology majors are presenting papers and arguments on the Flying Spaghetti Monster. From what I read, the one paper tries to decipher if the FSM is really a religion because in some theologist's eyes, to be called a "religion" means only to have a group of people or community of people believing in a higher being of sorts. Too funny!

And why would I be joining this "religion"?? For the mechandise of course!!! Everything is so awesome. Who else's religion can sport cool t-shirts with the saying "I was touched by his noodly appendage". The fact that they offer covers for you Ipod is so with the times. I mean, if the Catholics offered Ipod covers picturing Jesus at the last supper maybe I would convert. :)

Alright, enough fun. Back to estrogen and progesterone. Have a good night!!

It's Friday!!!!!

Here it is, another Friday in Grenada where the rest of my day looks like this:
GHrH, Somatostatin, GH, IGFs, Ghrelin, TRH, TSH, T3, T4, Dopamine, Prolactin, Oxytocin, Vasopressin (also know as ADH), CRH, ACTH, Aldosterone, Angiotensin II, Cortisol, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Insulin, Glucagon, PTH, Calcitrol, and Calcitonin!!!

For those of you who are not in medical school, all of the above equates to the wonderful Endocrine system!!! Each of the above has stimulator, a mechanism of action, a target organ, an effect, and lots of disorders when they go wrong!! I love medical school!!!

So besides physio, I also have been hard at work at Neuro. This weeks lectures included the Hypothalamus, Sexual differences of the brain, emotions, consciousness. And lets not forget Immuno where we are learning about hypersensitivity and the joys of asthma, anaphylactic reaction, and urticaria (fancy medical term for hives).

So my week has been pretty darn busy. Which is why I think I have been so exhausted lately. Case in point, wednesday....I woke up around 7am, did some work all morning, went to physio small group, came home around 2:30pm, slept until 6:30pm, ate dinner, studied until 9:30pm, and passed out at 10:30pm where I preceded to sleep until 8am the next morning (and still felt tired when i woke up!!). I'm definitely feeling more of a physical exhaustion and not mental. I did hurt my back about 2 weeks ago and I'm starting to think that this is wearing on me. Hopefully, my tiredness will diminsh as I get closer to exams.

Which reminds me....only 5 more weeks left!!!! I am so excited. Second term is almost finished (seems so surreal) and soon I will be home enjoying the comforts of the USA!! Plus all the christmas cookies I want!!

Have a great weekend. Of course, I will be spending most of it studying, but maybe I'll try to sneak out to enjoy the nice weather (90 degrees today). :)

Where the hell have I been.....

I know....march 29th since my last post.....what the f***??? But i really have a great excuse, are you ready??? From March 29th until May 11th I was busily studying to pass all of my first term courses. You will be happy to know that I did, the breakdown as follows: Histology - A, Biochem - A, Anatomy - B. So from May 12th until August 1st, I was busy working a full-time job at Spot coffee (the promoted me to shift manager, mostly because they had no one left) and trying desperately to get everything in that i wanted to do....like travel, see family and friends, and enjoy the longest summer break I will ever have for the rest of my life!!!! Okay, so from August 2nd until today on October 19th, I have been so incredibly busy with term 2 that my brain just couldn't seem to find the password for this account; today I remembered it!!!! So, i'm back to blog and hopefully it will be for a much longer time.....I have so much to tell, so lets get on with it....

First term: To start I should say that I was a little crazy with my study habits last term. I decided to concentrate on biochem, my nemesis, which worked out great. However, I could have totally gotten an A in anatomy if i put just a little more time in. I'm extremely happy with my grades, I just know I could have gotten that A.

Start of second term: HORRENDOUS!!! Why?? Because you spend 12 weeks at home in the comfort, freedom, and convenience of the united states only to come back to Grenada and realize that this sucks!!! Last term was not that bad and I'm thinking its because its new. New island, new people, new classes, and all of this combines to strip your senses of how crappy this island can be. Don't get me wrong, I love the weather, I love the classes and the school, but there is just something about the idea of being able to jump in your car and make a taco bell run at 1 am when you are up studying your butt off. Nothing like that here; everything closes at 9 or 10 pm (except on the weekends but then only the bars are open). So it took me quite a while to get out of my "i hate it here and i want to go back home right now" attitude, to studying for classes. Result: I got a B in both parasitology and genetics, the first two classes we had. I could have easily gotten 2 A's, but oh well. Then, after those classes, we moved right into Neuroscience and Physiology. For 2 weeks we had this awful class called CPM (don't get me started on this crappy class - in fact, I will tell you all about it soon because it was crazy), and after that Immunology started. Wow!! LOTS OF CLASSES!!

So, today I just finished my midterm week. Here is the short version: Physio did not go as well as I had thought (still passed but.....); Immuno was a cramfest the day before the exam (complement, cytokines, phagocytes oh my); Neuro went really well for me today considering I have put alot of my time into this class thinking it is very, very, VERY relevant for my future career.

And now, I am just chilling out for tonight and the weekend. I'm thinking about watching some Grey's Anatomy or maybe Friends and doing nothing that requires any information storage in my cortex. Have a great night!!!

11:12 pm

As the title of this post will tell you, it's late!! I'm currently sitting in the library trying to force feed my brain information on the leg and foot. My brain does not like the taste and insits on trying to force it back out!!! So far, I have been successful with keeping some of the information in.....but I'm hoping with a good night sleep I will remember more tomorrow.

So what have I been doing for the last few weeks.....study!!! Actually, the material has not been overwhelming which is a nice break, especially after midterms. But next week is when the fun begins!! 4 weeks of head and neck!!! I've already looked ahead at the mountains of information that is patiently waiting to fry my nerve endings!!! I hear it is the toughest part of Anatomy and I'm just hoping I have the endurance to get through it. I have come to realize that medical school is not about how smart you are......it's all about stamina. We have 5 weeks left in the semester, and I have already begun to see some people faltering. More and more people are missing classes and labs. All I keep telling myself is 5 MORE WEEKS!!!!

Biochem was horrendous a few weeks ago. We did almost 2 weeks of DNA replication, RNA transcription and translation. Yes I know it is important for genetic disease, but most of the things we covered I learned in biology 101 in undergrad. The lack of interest on my part in this particular subject definitely decreases my studying habits in Biochem for those 2 weeks. The only positive was more study time for Anatomy.

Histology is another story completely. I've come to realize that I understand more by self studying then I do with going to class. I think it has to do with sitting in a lecture hall seeing the same slides over and over, with the same explanations over and over. Instead of going to class, I spend that time reviewing the lecture presentation while skimming the corresponding chapter for more information. I then spend 30 minutes looking at slides, making comparisons/differences tables. This has definitely increased my understanding of histo as well as my ability to recognize tissue types.

Alright, enough about Anatomy, Histo, and Biochem....2 days ago I put down my deposit for my apartment next term. Here is a brief overview of the situation: School has housing lottery, I enter housing lottery, I lose, I along w/half the school spend the next day walking all over near campus for housing, I find housing, the girl that is supposed to be my roommate changes her mind, my friends get housing at really nice apartment complex, I get back home and find roommate at 10:30 pm, I get up next morning at 7 am, we bang on apartment managers door until he lets us in, we manage to snag THE LAST APARTMENT at 8:45 am!!!! Overally the experience was hectic, but the apartment is really nice, and brand new. I actually wish I could move in NOW!! Living on campus in a dorm has become really annoying...I'll blog about that experience at another time.

Well, I'm going to walk back to my dorm now for some much needed sleep. Have a good night!!

Sunsets on the beach

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Originally uploaded by tuggy8844.

Gorgeous, I know!! So, I have been studying as if my boards are tomorrow. I have midterms in exactly 8 days. Well, not just me as evident by the large amounts of students in the library on a saturday night (typically, they are all out drinking). So far, my studying is going very well. Anatomy is alot of review for me since I am picking up the material rather quickly. Histology is okay; I have seen it before in undergrad, so it's just a matter of teasing it out of my brain. Biochem is still the beast that can not be tamed!! I plan on devoting the entire day tomorrow (sunday) to tackly lipid synthesis/degradation.

So, a few weeks ago I was in the grocery store and what did I see; cake mix. So I bought it to celebrate after midterms. I figure that I will make the mix sometime on the weekend, give half of it to the girls down the hall so they can make some mini cakes (they have a toaster oven) and the rest I will gladly eat with a spoon right out of the bowl while sitting on my bed watching Legally Blonde!! I know, raw cake batter is bad for you because of the eggs, blah, blah blah. BUT, I have been a connoisseur of raw cake batter since I was in my mom's womb. So you can blame her, she is the one who gave me my first "beater to lick".

If it turns out I do contract some vile bacteria then: 1. The hospital in Grenada is on a HUGE hill overlooking the ocean and my room should have a sweet view! 2. At least my last meal before the eruptions from both ends was something I really wanted and enjoyed tremendously.

Alright, back to anatomy study. Have a great night. My next post will most likely be after my last midterm (March 9th). Hey, maybe I will write it while eating Devil Food Cake Mix!

J

HAPPY BUSY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all. Hopefully, you are having a great day!!

I just realized that I have not posted here in a very long time. The reason for this is biochem is VERY HARD!!! First, I digress: i am taking 4 classes this semester which are biochemistry, anatomy, histology, and clinical skills. Anatomy is a beast requiring lots of time for structure knowledge and relationship to other structure knowledge. Biochem is the devil requiring lots of time for good old memorization. Because of the above two classes, I have not put any effort or time into Histology. I have taken histo in the past, and thus have a slight advantage. However, histo should not be taken lightly and unfortunately that is what i'm doing right now!!!

I have decided that to effectively study for biochem, I need to repeat the reactions and cycles over and over and over again. I do it everynight, and on the days we have lecture, I add more to my memorization list. So far tonight I have been through: glycolysis, beta oxidation, alpha oxidation, carnitine shuttle, malate aspartate shuttle, glycerol phosphate shuttle, electron transport chain, TCA cycle, synthesis of ketones and their use, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, gluconeogenesis, and hormone transduction signaling. Not only have I been going over all of the pathways, but also all of the diseases and genetic abnormalites that are associated with these pathways.

Did I mention that my brain is not happy with me right now; that it is screaming like it is being hacked up by a machette, and that all of it's oligodendrite wrapped axon sheaths are unable to effectively communicate via acetylcholine neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft! OH MY GOD, I WAS ABLE TO LEARN SOMETHING IN HISTO LECTURE TODAY!!!

Although I feel a little overwhelmed sometimes, I must be doing something right. We recently took our Unified Quiz. It is basically a 25 question per subject quiz (75 in total) taken in 2 hours. It allows the student to evaluate their study methods and in the event they do bad on the quiz, change said study methods before the midterm in 3 WEEKS!!! Well I got the following grades: 22/25 in anatomy, 20/25 in biochem, and 19/25 in histo (due to my non-study habits in this class). Hopefully, these grades will be a major reflection on my midterm grades; as long as I keep studying my butt off every night!!!

Well, it is getting late and I should wrap it up and head on home for bed. My day starts early tomorrow morning at 7 am (which happens to be the time my day always starts). Have a good night and I'll hopefully post soon

3rd week, here i come!!

I know, I know. I haven't posted in a long time, but it's incredibly hard to give information (in the form of writing) when you are trying so hard to retain (in the form of anatomy, histology, and the dreaded biochem)!!!

So far, everything is going well. The studying is very intense. I believe I have studied more in the last 2 weeks than I ever had in my entire undergraduate career!! NO JOKE!! The amount of material that is thrown at you everyday is insane. For instance, here is a typical day: Get up 7 am, eat breakfast, shower, and have a small amount of "free time" until 8 am. Non-Lab days I study and pre-read for upcoming lectures until 12:30, on lab days I can only pre-read for a few hours as labs run 8 am - 10 am or 10 am - 12 pm. At 12 or 12:30, I have lunch and take a much needed break. Lectures run from 1 pm - 5 pm. At 5 I run back to the dorm to eat dinner and grab study material. From 6 pm - 11 pm is study time. I'm back in my dorm around 11:30 pm, and in bed by 12 am. Then it's back up at 7 am to do it all over again!!

Weekends are little easier with no classes, but if you are behind or need extra help, the studying time may be just as long. For instance, yesterday I had a selective on complementary medicine that ran from 9 am - 4 pm. I did get some studying done after, but not much. So, sunday was the day to catch up. From 11 am - 6 pm, and 7 pm - 11 pm I did nothing but cram information into my head.

What i've found so far is that the first 2 weeks are the hardest. You are trying to find out how to be successful in terms of the best ways to study and retain information. Of course, everyone wants to give you their opinion on how they study and remember, but in the end, it is up to you to determine what works and does not work for you. Once you find that, studying becomes so much easier. I think I have found my way, and hopefully this will be reinforced by our first unified quiz.

Well, i'm off to class. In the next few days I will be posting more about fun stuff at school and also more about the island. Have a good day!

FOOD!!!

So this is my first official meal outside of the campus.....i had gone into the city of St. George's with friends to do some grocery shopping (this of course occurred on 1/13, so my post is a tad bit late). There is a port that docks cruise ships and they have this giant strip mall of duty free items. So, we went inside and the first thing we see is pizza. So of course we needed to eat some. I bought the vegetable slice. It had peppers, onions, corn, green beans, broccoli, and something else that was un-identifiable. However, the pizza was great!!! It was 5 ec for the slice (about $2.00) and it was oh so good!!! We were debating if we should get another. We didn't!!!

So the grocery shopping was not a great success. There is a huge farmer's type market in the city where fresh vegetables and fruits are sold. The selection was okay although it seemed that many of the farmer's had the same produce - carrots, mangos, grapfruit, oranges (which are green here), peppers, onions, etc, etc. I did pick up something called cashew. It is a fruit and tastes like a watered down version of an apple (at least to me). It was very good though. Anyway, I quickly realized that when three american medical students approached a stand, the prices suddenly jumped. I guess if you are grenandian the prices are great, but for us, it wasn't any cheaper than the over-priced supermarket. We did however get apples, gala apples. They said on the sticker, grown in the USA....it was pretty funny!!! Anyway, i was able to get 4 apples for 5 ec (about 4 for $2.00). Now you may be saying, WHOA, THAT IS A LOT!! However, in the grocery store apples were $2.69 ec EACH!!! That is almost $1/apple.

Alright, time to do some studying. I had embryology yesterday and already I can see that this class will be a big pain in the rear end in terminology. Have a great day and i'll post again soon.

St. George"s

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Originally uploaded by tuggy8844.

Just wanted to give you all a glimpse of the beautiful city of St. George's. I'm waiting to board the rhum runner for a short cruise.

Day 3

So today marks my 3rd day of being on this beautiful island. Although today is very cloudy and overcast, the temperature is still 85 degrees and very, VERY humid.

Today is tour day....i signed up for the campus tour and the tour of the national rain forest. The campus tour was okay....very short, and very hard to hear. The tour guide spoke so softly. I've noticed that many grenadians speak very softly and of course they annunciate differently, so it's very hard to understand them. The rain forest tour is at 2 pm, although it may be very wet considering there is a very dark cloud encompassing the entire island!!

Yesterday was my first trip to the grocery store. Prices were very expensive for name brand, american items, but cheaper for local items. For example, a small box of uncle ben's minute rice was 16 EC ($6.40), however, a 5 lb. bag of local white rice (not instant) was 5 EC ($2). Naturally, my roomate and I decided to go for the 5 lb bag. Fruit and vegetables were absurdly expensive....1 apple was 2.79 EC, which is about $1.10 per fruit. The capital tour is saturday and many 2nd termers have told us that they have open markets for fish and fruit there....so we will definitely check that out, and I'll inform you as to the differences in prices.

So between now and the tour, I will be picking up my books and having lunch, all in 3 hours of time. The orientation week is great, however, the days are not packed solid with things to do so there is a lot of down time....like now....most students use the time to meet others or explore the campus on their own.

Last night, i went with two other students to a bar off campus...it was fun!! I only had 1 beer, a local called caribe....it tasted like miller lite.....oh...i'll be right back, time to go get books....

okay, i'm back.....we have alot of books.....12 to be exact.....luckily we didn't have to carry them from the bookstore.....a girl down the hall allowed us to ride with her and her parent's in their rental jeep.....

so back to the bar.....it was right on the water and they played alot of 80's and 90's dance music....by 10:30, the bar was packed with students and unfortunately it was very hard to hear with the music. add to that all of the different nationalities and accents, and it was very hard to converse and meet new people, but i tried.....i did meet a guy from south africa, another from brazil, and several from england and scotland. although many students are from the states, most of them are from different nationalities and speak other languages. For example, my roommate stephanie lives in new jersey, but her parents are hungarian so when she speaks with them, she speaks in that language. Joanne down the hall lives in LA, but she is asian....she speaks with her parents in their native tongue.....i met a another guy the other day from nyc talking to his parents in jewish. So it seems i am a minority when it comes to speaking other languages!!!

Well, i'm going to have lunch and get ready for the Grand Etang tour. I'm desperately trying to learn how to add photos...i did sign up for flickr, now i just have to figure out how to get them on this blog.

Have a great day!!

I'm Here!!!!

Well, i made it to grenada!! my plane arrived today at 4:42 pm (grenada time is one hour ahead). Of course, I do have an airport story. My seat was in row 12 and usually they board the back of the plane first. So, by the time they called the remaining seats,(rows 6-18) there was no room for anymore carry-on luggage and everything had to go underneath. It was a very long process of hearing the whining and moaning from my fellow passengers, and then to have to hand-right tickets for the 30 or so people that needed to check their bags....the flight was delayed by almost 45 minutes. However, the pilots definitely made up for it in the air.

Customs in grenadanwas not bad at all. They are doing some renovations to the airport so we had to walk onto the tarmac and then about 500 yards to the six custom agents. It was fairly humid and there was no air conditioning, only a few fans which made the wait seem like forever, but in reality it was only 10 minutes. The custom agents don't speak much. My agent asked how my flight was and that was it. I handed him the appropriate paperwork (passport, immigration letter) and then I was off to get my luggage. There were way too many black bags!!! i'm glad jenna got me a green luggage set!!! although, one of my bags was black and it took me forever to find. Then I was off to the claim center where you have to declare the items you are bringing in to grenada. Basically, they just want to see your laptop. I handed the agent my laptop and receipt and he punched some numbers and said "$46". Then it was out the door to be picked up by SGU. And the weather is awesome!!!! Bright blue skies, palm trees, i am so glad i decided to come here for school!!

I arrived at my dorm, superdorm 2, which is located near the b-ball courts. I am on the 2nd floor, room #3. So far I have met my roommate Stephanie, and another girl Chelsea that lives a few doors down. I also met another girl but I can't remember her name, so i'll have to get that tomorrow!!

I decided to unpack as soon as I got into my dorm. That took me over an hour, and when I was done, it was too dark outside to see anything. So, tomorrow is a day for just walking around!! I have to register at 11:30 for classes, but after that, the day is mine to do whatever I like. I think I'm going to go check out the grocery store and maybe the beach too. Although I didn't bring a bathing suit!! I figure I can where my board shorts and a sport bra!!

i'm also going to find time tomorrow to figure out how to get pictures up on this blog. They will be awesome!!

Have a good night all, and be safe!

J