Whew!

So the week that was is finally a 'was' instead of an 'is'. It included three exams and two write-ups and a CPR class for me. The score at the end of the week, I did well on the two Patho tests (though the second one was truly just recognition), but feel about as comfortable as a pair of tighty whiteys about the one today. Ah well, you cant win them all, and, as Garth Algar would say "live in the now man." Indeed.

Got back the scores from a bizarre test we took way back in week one: The NET (Nurse Entrance Exam). Theoretically, this exam would assess whether or not we possessed the skills necessary to make it in school and the profession. Of course, the point of giving it to us after we were already admitted is lost on me. I have doubts that if someone couldn't do math or write that they would kick them out now. The test yielded some surprising and entirely unsurprising results. First off, evidently I can do math. Yeah for me. I was in the 98% percentile. I am EXTREMELY curious to know what I missed (I missed one percentage operation), but I will be happy with how I did. I can also read fairly rapidly. However, my reading comprehension is just only above average and my knowledge of punctuation is below average?!,. (cant even figure out how to end the last sentence). Evidently I also dont have very good test taking skills (a skill they can test for apparently, though unrelated to math I would guess). However, it should be noted that my scores, as well as those of my classmates, ought to be curved somehow. We were given this test on our first Friday after all new classes, overwhelming lectures, and bustling about trying to dot every 'i'. Overall I ended up in the 88th percentile. Too bad that doesnt directly translate to school where I remain entrenched in my 55th percentile niche (it is a cozy place and I am quite comfortable).

Tia's birthday is this weekend. I got her a new bike (a surprise I cannot ruin since she already has ridden it). I am hoping to be able to clear out some time for us to do something fun on Sunday since her birthday and school match up about as poorly as Lindsay Lohan and rehab. I have a test that morning from 8-11 and classes that run until 7pm.

Off to bed. One more day to go before the weekend.

One month and where I stand

So, one month after the start of school and things are still going pretty well. Yes, it is overwhelming and yes there is a lot to do and yes it will only get harder from here......but I finally found some time today to put my grades together and was a bit shocked at how relatively well I am doing. I didnt think I was bombing out, but I thought I mostly had a smattering of B's. This could change quite a bit in the next month or so (or in the next week really as I await scoring on the last Patho exam and a paper I turned in better than a week ago), but here is the run down (mostly written for myself so I can remember when I seemed to have a handle on things):

Patho: B+
Assessment: B+
Nursing Science: A-
Genetics: A

I was shocked that I was doing that well. Not because I think I am a moron, but the program really isnt easy. The amount of things we are asked to retain in a VERY short span of time is, at times, overwhelming.

Other than that, I met with my advisor the other evening (a really great guy who happened to do my interview as well) and it looks like things will get very interesting very soon. Within a month we will be learning how to inject, hang bags, bathe people and "wipe ass." Not all parts are equally enthralling. But we will get out to see actual patients and start practicing some of the things we have learned. I am both nervous and excited. We will have quite a bit of hands on experience before we get through the summer term. Just 6 weeks ago I was trying to put together a newsletter and in another 6 god knows what i will be doing. This would be an amazing adventure were it not so incredibly expensive.

Time to study for another exam.

Cant look at the materials any more

So, I think I have about had my fill of hypo- and hypertension, SA nodes, and bradycardia (heart beat below 60) and thought it would be an opportune time to drop a quick blog and gather myself for one more comb through the material. I have been definitely feeling the "screw it"s this weekend as in, "if I dont know this stuff for the test by now, screw it." I still honestly feel like I am keeping up, but I need to really dedicate myself better to my studies. It is just hard to do when I feel like, between classes, papers, watching online videos, taking online tests, etc, it feels like I already breathe the stuff. The review sessions dont seem to help me either, seemingly just serving as a means to freak me out about all the things I dont know. I just know it is only going to ratchet up in intensity in the coming months and I have to match it with more time with my nose in a book and less time trying to keep a balanced life. That said, when I talk with Tia about class topics, I feel fairly comfortable with the meat and bones of the materials for the most part. My weak areas are the areas that were weak to being with, namely microbiology. It is one thing to say that someone is dealing with a problem needs drug A to get better, it is another thing to think of it in terms of blocking the renin-angiotensin system from operating and what that means at the cellular level. I constantly wonder how this will come into practice and/or how much of it is more or less informative, but that we will not be doctors after all.

Had a fairly lovely weekend. Lots of studying mixed in with it, but overall it was nice. Especially the picnic that Tia and I went on Sunday nite (which was also combined with studying). Speaking of studying (and I think this blog has comprised little else), I need to get back to it. 3 exams this week and two write-ups. The term ends in approximately 3-4 weeks and then we have 4 weeks of clinical prep where the schedule gets much more full.

Friendly's

What a nice reprieve. The week, as all weeks are, has been hellacious. Well, to be honest, Monday is hellacious and then Tuesdays and Thursdays are packed, but not that bad. Wednesdays and Fridays I just have lab and time to catch up on work ostensibly, though often it is used to catch up on life some.

Today I got home around 11:45, had lunch and worked on the family history genetics assignment. While working on that intermittently I also: bottle fed some kittens, played tennis, sent a few emails, went to Friendly's and read a bit of Assessment. These are the days I look forward to on Monday morning and the days I will look back on when things really get crazy in about a month.

I doubt I will post again soon unless something really incredible happens. In the coming week I have 3 exams and two write-ups due. The pace doesnt let up much after that either. I cant believe that this is week #4. Each day I cross off on the calendar is another day closer to clinicals and what will be the among the craziest forays of my life. It will be interesting to read and reflect on all of it when the year is over.....for now if I look back to long I find myself about 4 prevalent points behind in my lecture notes. If nothing else, I am remembering how hard it is to take notes and how incredibly horrid my handwriting has become. It can best be compared to hieroglyphics or the Wingdings font in Word.

Back to work.

B

stuff outside of school

I had wanted to focus this entire blog on school, but often school is either too complicated to describe, duller than 3-piece puzzle, or just plain, well, scholastic. So, I thought I would at least mention what else there is to do in Rochester (or at least what we have thus far done in the month I have been here).

1. Played disc golf (lots of courses here, though we have only visited one)
2. Went to Park Ave (mostly restaurants...........kind of like a very slimmed down version of nob hill)
3. Mall shopping
4. Going out to eat - there is a fair spectrum of choices from your typical national chains to some more or less local eateries. Lots and lots of pizza delivery places. Local fair includes three things of which I have really only tried one: frozen custard (darn good), hots (red or white hot dog), and something called a garbage plate (http://rocwiki.org/Garbage_Plates).
5. Lilac Festival -the city is rife with festivals. there is a jazz festival going on this week.
6. Charlotte (pronounced Shar-lot, not like the city) Beach - it is only 2 miles from the house but the lake water is too cold to swim in.

I am sure I am forgetting other things, but I dont want everyone to think my life is just school 24/7. I would be a raving lunatic if that were the case.

Speaking of school, I am off to get ready for it. How does one mentally prepare for 7 hours of lectures?

Nursing theory

I had to write a paper about nursing theory. The paper had to be, as all papers for this particular class have to be, 2 pages single-spaced in APA format. The point of the paper was to show how the theory you chose applied to care of patients. The point of the class, much like the point of the paper, seems to be to suck what hours it can from actually relevant classes. Not trying to be bitter, but not all classes seem to hold the same level of relevance when you are cramming them in like crab legs at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

My classes are as such:
9 credits of pathophysiology - teaching us how the body reacts to stresses like trauma or medication. The complexities of the course are beyond my explanation because they are beyond my comprehension at this point, but, for a point of reference: If a patient is on an anti-parkinsonian drugs -
1. what does that mean? Well, the body is producing too much acetylcholine (ACh) and/or not enough dopamine which is a problem because ACh is a stimulant causing all your nerves to fire continuously leading to the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
2. What do you do? You have to up the dopamine levels which ought to balance out the ACh, but it cannot cross the Blood Brain Barrier so it L-dopa is usually combined with carbidopa (for those of you who REALLY know this stuff, sorry for any errors). The process works for awhile but is not a fix. When it stops working and the dopamine levels and GABA levels cannot counterbalance the ACh, then you try to lower the ACh production with anticholinergenics. The problem with anicholinergenics is that they have effects systemically leading to sympathetic stress responses (fight-or-flight) such as lower GI motility and secretions, dilated pupils, higher blood pressure, and the like.

This is the kind of thing we are learning for all diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimers, and depression. How the body responds to these stresses and how those responses lead to other responses and ad-infinitum down the line. It is some incredibly dense material taught to us at speeds that cause me a personal stress response. My brain feels a lot like the movie Memento because I have to keep working backwards to get to the answers.

Assessment - teaches us how to work up a patient in the most general to the more specific manners. Everything from taking pulses and BP to neurological and musculoskeletal examinations. Things we will need to know but have a hard time studying because of pathophys. It still feels a lot like a game of dress up. I cannot believe we will be doing this stuff for real so soon.

Genetics - learning how to do 3-generational punnets (like Gregor Mendal and his peas) to figure out how cousin Emma happened to get blue eyes and/or Marphan syndrome. Thankfully the class is kind of like a buffet (seems to be the theme)......try to get as much on your plate as you can, but dont think for a second you are getting it all in one trip.

Nursing Science - kind of about nursing history, theory, and various related affairs but mostly about the aforementioned papers. One of those classes that might well be interesting, but kind of like the show King of Queens. If you have time and its on, I will watch it and be amused, but when you dont have time to watch it, it wouldnt phase you at all to miss it. In this scenario, my other classes kind of feel like they are all on at the same time as King of Queens and all are shows that require I pay attention more. I wish I could wait to do this class during summer reruns.

So, those are my classes. They might not seem like a lot to some, but they take up an inordinate amount of time and my head often hurts worse than GW's after trying to pronounce the world nuclear. I can see why they tell us not to work. Some people do manage to juggle school and work (part-time) effectively, but that is for now while the clinicals remain in the distance.

As far as life outside of school, things are moving along. The schedule has finally normalized and that helps in planning studying, etc. It also allows for Tia and I to have some down time to relax and do some fun things. I met a girl who said she was giving up movies, TV, hanging out with friends etc. for the duration of the program, to which I could only smile knowing full well that she will be one of the patients we end up treating soon after we graduate. It is a balance and not an even one, but if you let life whither and die while you are in the program, you wont have a lot to look forward to when the program is done.

I need to get back to my books. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Do something relaxing on my behalf.

Ah the weekend

It is nice to be through another week of classes. I am not in a mood to rush through it all, but there is a sense of accomplishment each time Friday classes roll around and you dont find yourself weeping uncontrollably (I have largely learned to keep the weeping to a manageable level).

So, the first tests/papers etc are in and, thus far, I am not doing too badly (not setting the world on fire, but I am not existing on the tail of the bell curve either). Started with a B on my first Pathophys, an A- on my first nursing science paper (though the grading could, at best, be labeled capricious since neither I or my roommate got any negative comments and yet garnered less than perfect scores, though she fared better than I), and got an A on my first Genetics exam. Due tomorrow by noon is our second paper for Nursing Science and Tuesday has us in another Pathophys exam, so things could change very rapidly for the better or worse.

The schedule evens out next week and becomes much more regular (well, for a month anyway). Should afford some opportunity to get into a rhythm and, at the very least, looks to be the end of the extreme days. Also, Krista and I got our rotation schedule, and we will both start in Psychiatrics which is actually a lot less arduous, from what I hear, than starting with Pediatrics. We shall see. Rotations start up at the end of summer. I cant believe we will be practicing on real people that soon.

It is really warm in the office, so I will keep this brief. Also, I have some actual work to do which takes precedence. Hope everyone has a great weekend.