Hope everyone had wonderful holidays and Happy New Year! Here's to 2010!
Thanks for the recent messages, guys. I've gotten back to some of you today and like always, I'm still working through my inbox. I'm so sorry my lack of recent updates has left you hanging for so long. I'm still currently halfway through the next chapter for Through Me, but I'm really not in love with it at the moment and I have a serious case of writer's block.
Plus, I had an extremely short winter break (Those blissful month long breaks typical college kids enjoy no longer exist in our schedules these last few years. Think two weeks. Think a week. Think - ugh ...) And unfortunately, happy joy joy, classes start again tomorrow. Pharmacology, ahoy hoy.
I wish that I could just pound out the final chapters and I hope to do so soon sometimes in the near future, but at the moment, my classes are a bit distracting and even when I do sit down the document, I'm in the state where I hate everything I'm typing. I'll try to hopefully finish the story some time in the near future though and I hope to continue to update my blog in a more timely fashion to inform keep you all up to date. Thanks again for your message and I'm sorry I have no real concrete news about the next update at this time. I really appreciate your reviews and support though and I'm always glad to hear from you.
Interesting bits from the Behavioral Med class we just finished:
Anorexia (an eating disorder characterized by extremely low body weight, distorted body image and an obsessive fear of gaining weight) affects not only women. We watched two clips in class, including one about "manorexia". Both cases were shocking, especially when you compare the before and after, and it's important that anorexia's not treated lightly, like some switch the patient can just switch on and off.
We also learned about Tourette syndrome, autism, ADHD, and so forth. Behavioral Medicine was definitely one of the most interesting classes we've had so far.
At my ongoing training at the community health center I've been assigned to, I also got to perform my first rectal exam.
Friend: "So how'd it feel sticking your finger up someone's ass?"
Me: "Warm."
Also, slightly awkward, yes, but the male patient was game and he took it in stride. I wish all patients were this nice and understanding with two medical students hovering in the background. I don't think even I as a patient would have been so comfortable with the idea of a bunch of strangers grouped in the corner, listening in while the doctor's conducting his interview. But the patients we observed were all friendly and no one had a real problem with us being there after our roles were explained to them. Great experiences so far and here's hoping that they'd continue that way.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Behavioral Med
Physio ended roughly two weeks ago, U.S. Healthcare ended a week ago, and now we're starting Behavioral Med. So far, it's been a pretty good class. It's not very stressful and they say it's our breather between Physio and Pharm.
Except it also starts at 8am and my body is still in denial about the 6am wake up time. I tend to only get four hours of sleep a night these days for some reason - I don't know what I do, but the next thing I know it's 12am and then insomnia hits. Which means I've been passing out in class a lot.
The professor did a relaxation exercise the other day to show the effects of meditation on the body. Buddhist monks can apparently sit in a freezing room and raise their body temperature through meditation. So he asked us to close our eyes and he took us through this hiking scenario, walking through fields and mountains and all that fun stuff.
I LOVED this exercise.
As soon as my eyes closed, my body wept with joy. And the last thing I remembered was the professor describing the path to the mountains before I passed out completely.
Fifteen minutes later, he woke us up. Half the class blinked blearily in the light and some people pleaded, "Can we do it again?"
"No," the professor said. "Now does anyone feel warmer?"
Silence. "Actually, we're pretty cold."
"You fell asleep, didn't you? I'm going to eat you guys."
Tomorrow, we're doing our first patient-doctor role play session. Very soon, we'll be sent off to our respective sites to do some actual patient interviewing. Exciting! But I wish I could concentrate better on my studies and pick up the slack for once. I feel like I'm always dangling by a thread and all the could've, would've, should'ves get depressing.
Cousin's wedding went well. Us girls did our bridesmaid duties superbly, the groomsmen were under the impression that they were lock-picking, door-busting triad members, and I learned that it is indeed possible to balance an egg with a partner groomsman using only one pair of chopsticks between us. Skills. Oh, and I managed to drop lobster into my lap onto my dress and wound up standing in the bathroom for fifteen minutes with my cousin, scrubbing some of the stains out with the help of some soap, eye make-up remover and a handy hand dryer. Butterfingers, word.
Except it also starts at 8am and my body is still in denial about the 6am wake up time. I tend to only get four hours of sleep a night these days for some reason - I don't know what I do, but the next thing I know it's 12am and then insomnia hits. Which means I've been passing out in class a lot.
The professor did a relaxation exercise the other day to show the effects of meditation on the body. Buddhist monks can apparently sit in a freezing room and raise their body temperature through meditation. So he asked us to close our eyes and he took us through this hiking scenario, walking through fields and mountains and all that fun stuff.
I LOVED this exercise.
As soon as my eyes closed, my body wept with joy. And the last thing I remembered was the professor describing the path to the mountains before I passed out completely.
Fifteen minutes later, he woke us up. Half the class blinked blearily in the light and some people pleaded, "Can we do it again?"
"No," the professor said. "Now does anyone feel warmer?"
Silence. "Actually, we're pretty cold."
"You fell asleep, didn't you? I'm going to eat you guys."
Tomorrow, we're doing our first patient-doctor role play session. Very soon, we'll be sent off to our respective sites to do some actual patient interviewing. Exciting! But I wish I could concentrate better on my studies and pick up the slack for once. I feel like I'm always dangling by a thread and all the could've, would've, should'ves get depressing.
Cousin's wedding went well. Us girls did our bridesmaid duties superbly, the groomsmen were under the impression that they were lock-picking, door-busting triad members, and I learned that it is indeed possible to balance an egg with a partner groomsman using only one pair of chopsticks between us. Skills. Oh, and I managed to drop lobster into my lap onto my dress and wound up standing in the bathroom for fifteen minutes with my cousin, scrubbing some of the stains out with the help of some soap, eye make-up remover and a handy hand dryer. Butterfingers, word.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Classy Studying Style
I've been dying in Physiology the last two months and ... that pretty much sums up my life thus far. This past week, I've been running on three hours of sleep per night - I really, really hate waking up at 6 every morning to make my 8am classes - I've officially turned into a caffeine junkie. The lady at the cart - French Vanilla, small, breathes life into me. All in all, I've been slaving for a while and I believe I still pretty much dropped off the cliff on our exam today. Why, brain, why! I know, with all the abuse I give it and the lack of proper rest, it's fortunate enough my body can still make its way to school without keeling over, but ... brain, please, miracles I need.
For my last exam, I spent the night before even more spectacularly. I stayed in a study room with a couple of friends and pulled an all nighter at school, napping for a bit in chairs pulled up together. Yeah, like hobos, no big deal.
Kids, this is not the proper way to study efficiently, but I've been telling myself this for the last four years and somehow, it still always comes down to mindless rushing the eve of an exam.
I went to my neighborhood library last weekend to try to study, but I wasn't in much of a mood to concentrate that day - I didn't have my coffee fix - and ... that particular library branch is apparently not really a library.
It is however ...
A) a playground, a nursery, a place where you can abandon your shrieking kids for a few hours. My brother works there and he says some librarians had actually had to run outside and pull wandering kids out of traffic because they were looking for their mothers.
B) a social area where ladies gather and chat in loud voices. People get the privilege of hearing about so-and-so's handsome son who should have no problem at all getting married 20 years from now when they're all grown up. Cousin got up and went to stare at one particularly vocal woman until she got the hint.
C) a homing site for the not so mentally stable. I'm sorry, but if you're sitting at the computer and talking to it for half an hour ("I don't believe it. I don't believe it. I want my email. Hello! MY email! HELLO! Okay, let's see if this works. Come on! Okay, you want my password. I'll do it again. Here. I don't believe it. What is going on? HELLO!"), you skip from frustrated individual straight to "Kids, please don't go near that lady." And please check personal hygiene before you venture into a local place.
By the end of the session, my cousin and I thought the old man with the phlegm in his throat was the most normal person at our table. Sure beats the father who smelled, the trenchcoat dude who seemed to be unaware of his sporadic humming, or the lady who lambasted her computer. I wanted to turn around and advise her to go to a librarian for help because she was starting to sound deranged, but provoking an unhinged person is never a good idea. I probably wouldn't have made it out of the place alive.
I had dragged my cousin along and we literally circulated the area again and again searching for better seats. We ended up near the bathroom and of course, some guy had to go in and clog the toilet - I felt bad for the little girl who went in right after him and then hurried back out an instant after. The stench was the final clincher in moving us along to the exits.
I'm just glad it's the weekend now and I can finally sleep. Next Sunday is my cousin's wedding banquet though! It's going to be a hectic period because I have exams coming up that week - okay, actually, I've been having weekly exams all this time anyway so who am I kidding? I'm going to be a bridesmaid actually and it should be fun.
For my last exam, I spent the night before even more spectacularly. I stayed in a study room with a couple of friends and pulled an all nighter at school, napping for a bit in chairs pulled up together. Yeah, like hobos, no big deal.
Kids, this is not the proper way to study efficiently, but I've been telling myself this for the last four years and somehow, it still always comes down to mindless rushing the eve of an exam.
I went to my neighborhood library last weekend to try to study, but I wasn't in much of a mood to concentrate that day - I didn't have my coffee fix - and ... that particular library branch is apparently not really a library.
It is however ...
A) a playground, a nursery, a place where you can abandon your shrieking kids for a few hours. My brother works there and he says some librarians had actually had to run outside and pull wandering kids out of traffic because they were looking for their mothers.
B) a social area where ladies gather and chat in loud voices. People get the privilege of hearing about so-and-so's handsome son who should have no problem at all getting married 20 years from now when they're all grown up. Cousin got up and went to stare at one particularly vocal woman until she got the hint.
C) a homing site for the not so mentally stable. I'm sorry, but if you're sitting at the computer and talking to it for half an hour ("I don't believe it. I don't believe it. I want my email. Hello! MY email! HELLO! Okay, let's see if this works. Come on! Okay, you want my password. I'll do it again. Here. I don't believe it. What is going on? HELLO!"), you skip from frustrated individual straight to "Kids, please don't go near that lady." And please check personal hygiene before you venture into a local place.
By the end of the session, my cousin and I thought the old man with the phlegm in his throat was the most normal person at our table. Sure beats the father who smelled, the trenchcoat dude who seemed to be unaware of his sporadic humming, or the lady who lambasted her computer. I wanted to turn around and advise her to go to a librarian for help because she was starting to sound deranged, but provoking an unhinged person is never a good idea. I probably wouldn't have made it out of the place alive.
I had dragged my cousin along and we literally circulated the area again and again searching for better seats. We ended up near the bathroom and of course, some guy had to go in and clog the toilet - I felt bad for the little girl who went in right after him and then hurried back out an instant after. The stench was the final clincher in moving us along to the exits.
I'm just glad it's the weekend now and I can finally sleep. Next Sunday is my cousin's wedding banquet though! It's going to be a hectic period because I have exams coming up that week - okay, actually, I've been having weekly exams all this time anyway so who am I kidding? I'm going to be a bridesmaid actually and it should be fun.
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