Semester Wrap Up

FINALLY.

FINALLY had my *last* exam this morning. What was supposed to be a two week break turned into about a half week because of this stupid neurology exam.

Long story short, I missed the real final, my makeup got delayed for a full week, I had a sort of panic attack the night before and walked into the exam in a sort of calm-deluded-denial state and consequently mixed up some very, very basic things on the exam and failed. This led to the remediation exam this morning, which I think (and I pray) I did well on, so I am FINALLY on break.

I am tired. This semester was a drain on me in more than a few ways. The good news is, summer is looking great, and I'm in the process of finding a new, closer therapist so I can take care of some lingering PTSD and depression issues.

CHM is big on mental health and mental wellbeing, but it's one thing to say you're going to take care of yourself and another thing when you've got 3 exams and you haven't looked at the material in weeks and you didn't do well on the practice exam so instead of seeking out help you lie in a pathetic heap in your unmade bed because you don't even have the motivation to tuck some sheets down in the corners or eat a proper meal besides yogurt and garlic bread and you're grinding your teeth because you can't find your bite splint so you wake up with a headache no matter how much or little you sleep, and the pills only work if you have some caffeine, which keeps you up late and makes your sleep even worse.

"Physician, heal thyself" is not always an easy thing. Luckily, I've got some good friends and coworkers who are (lovingly) on my case about getting what I need, even if what I need is just a simple bonfire and some drinks.

And I am really excited about this summer. Besides going to NYC and (theoretically) having an easier/more interesting class load, I am going to be piloting an Art and the Physician program. Basically, I'll be looking into ways that studying and making art can make someone a better doctor. I have some fun ideas up my sleeve, and I also plan on entering Artprize this year.

BUT, in the meantime, I have a few precious, guilt-free days off, so I planning on visiting some friends up north, drinking some wine, dressing up the Great Gatsby premiere, and catching up on some much needed rest.

New York Bound!!!!!!!!!

Guess who got a freaking amazing orthopedic research internship in NYC this summer!

ME!

Okay, so it's actually in Greenwich, CT, but it's close enough to NYC that I'm just going to keep saying NYC. I'm not a New Yorker, so sue me.

I'm pretty geeked - I will be doing a combination of research (hopefully getting published to boot) and general shadowing/clinical work in orthopedics. I don't know what project in particular I'm working on  yet, but everything the program director told me about sounds really cool.

This foundation has worked with various Olympic sports teams and does FDA trial research, as well as a decent amount of community service (including working with vets), so I'm sure I'll be able to do something really amazing.

There's also the added bonus of living in a billionaire's house this summer. I won't have ANY fun with that...

:)

Clinical Skillz

I am officially done with Clinical Skills II, and am "certified" to do a complete head to toe exam on a patient. Of course, I don't know how to actually interpret anything (except blood pressure), but hey, it's a start, right?

It's kind of a relief. I actually like being able to do a full physical exam, but the exam portion of it was kind of annoying, as we had to articulate everything we were doing to our preceptor.

"I am now inspecting your skin."
"I am now looking in all four quadrants of your eyes."

I now just have neurology, and all the excitement for Med Ball! Just a few more weeks until the semester is over.....crazy!

March Updates

Sorry for the lack of posting...things have been either been super busy with no time to write, or actually very quiet with not much to update on.

I'm officially done with Physiology and Epidemiology (biostats), which means I only have Neurology and Clinical Skills to worry about through the end of the semester. Grade-wise I'm doing much better this semester, mastering nearly all of my classes - not sure if it's the lighter class load, the lack of biochemistry, just getting used to the work load, or some combination thereof. Probably the combination - the lighter class load certainly helps me not feel overwhelmed in general, but I'm finding I'm learning a lot more with the same amount or even less studying.

Spring break was a much needed and very fun break - check out brittneytakesontheworld.blogspot.com for my updates on that. It was my first trip with all just friends, and I had a really good time :)

I found out I didn't get accepted into the Auschwitz fellowship, which is pretty disappointing. I knew it would be a long shot, but I had heard good feedback from Dr. Walker, and I guess I was really hoping for that tangible, "this-is-why-I'm-extended, so I experience this" moment. Getting into that fellowship was going to be the moment I was officially okay with failing biochemistry and having to extend. Now that it's not, I just feel kind of lost.

Other things are going well though. A and I are looking at apartments for next year, and I'm having super fun planning Med Ball and creating follies with everyone. Now I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to do  this summer - I kind of got the traveling bug from spring break and I'd like to do something out of the country, but I'm not sure if that's going to be best, or if I should save some money, stay at home, and maybe get some more physical experience working at a clinic.

Harrumph.

Suturing!

As part of the Surgery Interest Group e-board, I'm unofficially taking the surgery elective this semester. We've just had two sessions so far: basic knot tying and basic suturing. This is my first real suturing experience. Not too shabby, eh? It's very similar to embroidery, just, you know, with pig skin instead of fabric.

Exciting News!

I just found out my stained glass mosaic "All Heart" is going to be published on the cover of the Medical Student Research Journal!!!!!!

This is one of my unfinished pictures, and of course the published photo will be sans laundry on the floor, but this gives a pretty decent overview of the art.

Basically, this piece represents the heart of the physician: we take all of our experiences, good and bad, and use those to connect to our patients.

Study Buddies

File this under the random fun things at CHM.

Our histology lab is all computer based - rather than staining cells ourselves or looking at tissue samples under a microscope, we have pre-selected images on a computer program that we use to learn the difference between Kupffer cells and Ito cells, for example.

Because the things we are identifying can be quite tiny, and because CHM doesn't want fingerprints all over the computer screen, we use these little pointers.

We also have stuffed turtles, so if anyone has a question, they can simply place the turtle on top of the computer and continue on with the lab, rather than waiting forever with a hand up for a professor to come over and help.

This inevitably leads to my lab partner and I posing the turtles in various positions throughout lab.