Quote of the Day

Dirty Mnemonics

Here's a little insight into the medical mind: we're all a bunch of perverts.

Why? We have to memorize. A lot. And while a fair number of the names we have to memorize make some logical sense (arginosuccinate synthetase SYNTHESIZES arginosuccinate, extensor digitorum longus is a longer muscle that extends the hand, etc), there are a lot of names floating about that are just plain weird and difficult to remember. Compounding this is the fact that we have to memorize a whole bunch of these at once or in relation to each other. What's a poor, overworked medical student to do?!

We make a mnemonic. We come up with or copy someone else's fun little ditty or phrase that helps us remember the order of wrist bones or cranial nerves or whatever the heck it is we're learning this week. And while there are some tame phrases out there, it's of course WAY more fun to remember the dirty ones.

Want to take a guess at what the following mnemonics stand for?

A) Some lovers try positions that they can't handle.

B) Oh oh oh, to touch and feel very good vibrations; such heaven.

C) Some say marry money, but my brother says big boobs matter most.

D) All prostitutes take money.

E) The really naughty perverted people f(ornicate) caudally anteriorly

Yes, these are all things I've learned at medical school. Some of them even from the professors themselves. Give up?

A) Carpal (wrist) bones (Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform, Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate)
B) the 12 cranial nerves
C) Also related to cranial nerves: tells whether the nerve carries Sensory, Motor, or Both sensations
D) Cardiac valve sounds (Aortic, Pulmonary, Tricuspid, Mitral)
E) Water soluble vitamins (Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Pyridoxine, Folic Acid, Cobalamin, Ascorbic Acid)

So there. I am learning. And technically studying.

Doing Better

When I was in high school and part of the Science Olympiad team, we jokingly used a Barenaked Ladies' song as our team motto: You can always get it right next time. Partially, we all just really liked Barenaked Ladies and tended to listen to their music anyway, but it was also partially comforting to listen to that song on the ride back from a rather lackluster state competition. It didn't matter if we did really well but still fell short of making it on the to next level, or simply failed, because there would always be another competition, and we could always get it right next time.

I feel like I'm going to adapt this message for medical school. Rather than focusing on getting it "right" next time, I want to simply focus on doing BETTER. Not feeling so well after that last physiology exam? Do BETTER. Think maybe that last clinical interview didn't go quite as it should? Do BETTER.

This epiphany came to me in the anatomy lab, after having listened to quite a few people tie their self-esteem to their test scores. Yes, we all want to do well. We all NEED to do well, so we can become knowledgeable physicians and save lives. But while right now there are clear "right" and "wrong" answers (the facial nerve is not the optical nerve is not the occulomotor nerve, and they all have different functions), it will not also be so clear as I progress in my career.

There will be exams I fail or nearly fail after studying as hard I could - I can do better. There will be exams that I ace - I can do better in the sense that if I ready enough to get a perfect score on a test, I am ready to challenge myself in other areas. There will be interviews where I hit all the required targets - I can do better. There will be patients who die for whom I literally couldn't have done any else. I can still do better, whether it was in how much reading I did on their case, or how much time I spent talking to their family.

There's still a lot of pressure for perfection: ace all of the exams, nail the interviews, do all the interest groups and still have time to grab a beer with friends. But what if I was able to do all of that? What then?

So, my resolution is that no matter where I stand, I can and will do better.

(Someone remind me of this when I get done with my second round of exams next week.....)

Do What You Can

So far, I've been failing at my new goals. While I stayed on top of my biochemistry and anatomy lectures, I've fallen miserably behind in physiology. Anatomy lab has been making me feel claustrophobic because there are only a few good bodies for the structures we're trying to locate, and everyone seems to take all the good spots before I show up. My room WAS clean....and then the weekend hit. 

However, I am still trying. I sat down with some friends today and cranked out some physiology lectures. We all relaxed during lunch, and then got through three lab sessions in about two hours. I plan on doing some power cleaning when I get back home today. 

Once again, my biggest, biggest weakness is getting a little far behind, or just missing a goal, and then giving up completely. Or saying "That's too much to get through, I'll just skip it." If I can at least watch one missed lecture a day, or spend 20 minutes in the lab by myself, or re-read one page of biochemistry, or clean one corner of my room, that's something. 

*deep breath*

Start.

Quote of the Day

Exams and Organizing My Life

I passed all of my exams.
I PASSED ALL OF MY EXAMS.

I had a minor freakout where I thought I missed passing biochemistry by one question, but the professors accepted two different answers for one of the problems I originally got wrong, so I passed exactly. Not really where I want to be in the long run (since I had been getting 89% and 95% on the practice exams), but  at least now I have a decent springboard to go off of. I also exactly passed my anatomy lecture exam, but the lab exam is weighted double and I ROCKED the lab practical. Since I aced (that's right, ACED) my physiology exam, this puts me in a fairly decent place.

However, surviving my first round has also shoved my weaknesses front and forward. I've never been very good at time management. I am a horrible procrastinator. I also tend to give up - if my calendar says I'm supposed to study for four hours, and I spend the first hour taking a much needed nap or just talking with  my roommates, I have an unfortunate tendency to give up the entire study session.

So, these are my goals for the next round of exams.

1) Never get more than a day behind with lecture videos. I never got too far behind with them for the first round, but, knowing me, this could potentially be a problem in the future. This gives me a little bit of flexibility in case a professor is slow to the point of annoyance or I just really need to sleep in, but puts a little more responsibility on my end of things.

2) Prelab the NIGHT before, not the day of. This hasn't been a problem with histology, since we have LON-CAPA questions due long before lab, but I tend to put anatomy off until the lunch right before lab, and my pre-lab quiz scores show.

3) For biochem, rewrite everything. I tend to memorize things a lot better when I rewrite them, and since this section is all about glycolysis, memorization is key.

4) Keep my life better organized. Confession: I've never been a neat person. I probably never will be. But there are some things I can do to make my life easier. I've been doing VERY well with laundry and dishes, because I thought out a personal system that is both easy and efficient. I need to do the same for my desk. My desk is currently buried under non-school items, so when I go to study at home I normally end up in my bed. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, since I naturally migrate from one spot to the other to keep both blood and brain juice flowing, but when I sit in bed all day because my desk isn't an option, my productivity dwindles.

There will be probably be new goals after the 2nd round of exams (eating healthier and not driving to class because I want to sleep 10 more minutes come to mind), but I think these are the biggies that will decrease my overall stress levels and make medical school life much more enjoyable.

And really, why am I doing all of this if it's not enjoyable?! :)

Post Exam Reflections

Just had my first real exam of medical school in Physiology (my first tests in Anatomy and Biochemistry were more like quizzes). I think I did pretty good, so I'm celebrating by sitting outside with an iced chai latte, listening to morning traffic.

I think I'm still a little bit more of a country girl at heart, but I really do love living in this city. Grand Rapids always has something going on, but never feels overwhelming. The medical campus feels like home. It wakes up slowly - on all of my bike rides, I never have trouble finding a quiet street. And I don't think I'll ever get tired of the view from any of the Secchia Center windows.