Hey Everyone!
This blog post is about a week late, but better late then never I suppose.
Last time I left off I was just about to begin the last week before Block 1 exams. Not much happened that week except for Block 1 Prep (that I can remember anyways). The more important thing to talk about I guess would be how Block one of semester 2 went!
The weekend before block monday (last weekend) was a typical pre block weekend. Study from 8am until you have to go to bed. These weekends really are the worst, but at the same time are very necessary to your success on Block day. I say this because we continue to get new material normally up until Thursday. Friday is normally saved for reviews. This means that you really have very little time to study previously covered material until the weekend. This is another very important reason why you should do very efficient studying during the weekdays. The more familiar you are with the material, the less stressful the weekend before blocks will be. On Sunday, I stopped studying around 10pm to get a bit more sleep before Monday.
The actually block day started off pretty good. You see, block one exams are always the worst, especially when you have professors who you have not had before. This is because their testing style is not known. My first exam of the day was Biochemistry at 8am and I thought it went well. The exam was very fair and well written. If you studied and knew your stuff, there was no surprises. The next exam for me was Physiology. This is where my schedule deviated from the EBS 2 group. They had a break while we wrote the exam. The physiology exam wasnt too bad, except there were time constraints. Each question was either a paragraph long, or had some graph to distinguish. At this point all the questions we get are 2nd 3rd or 4th order. They are written in a way that memorizing simply will not work. There are never questions that simply ask you something that was written on a slide. They will give you a capillary wedge pressure and based on the pressure will ask you what cardiac pressure curve would best represent the cardiac valve disorder that is giving rise to the abnormal pressure. So you not only have to know about capillary wedge pressure values, you also need to know what heart valve problems give rise to those values. You also need to know how to tell from a pressure curve which valve disorder is what. So as you can tell, the questions take a while. I found that they were fair, but a few extra minutes would have been nice. After physio I had genetics. My first run through of the exam I thought was tough. On my second pass (review of my answers) I caught a few mistakes I had made (always go through your exam befit submitting!!). I then had a 2 hours break before my last exam which was immunology. This was by far the hardest out of the 4 for me. Monday when the marks came in, I was happy with all of them except for Immuno.. So I will just have to make sure I study extra hard these next 4 weeks to get me at a point where I am comfortable again.
So far this block, things have been good. Physio still remains my favourite class, but Biochem is also pretty neat. Genetics is getting better because we are learning a lot of diseases. The most exciting thing that happened this week was with regards to our first Physio lab! For the remainder of the semester, we will have a lab every Friday. This afternoon it was my rotation to do a Simulator scenario. It was really cool. We use the high fidelity simulators, which essentially is the closest thing to a real patient you can get. It has radial, femoral, carotid pulse point, Can take blood pressures, the thing talks to you and can respond to pain, full lung and bowl sounds, cardiac sounds, anatomically correct airway for intubation, functioning vessels for IV and blood taking, catheter capabilities with urine output, vitals change when you give medications etc. This thing is a lot of fun. Don't want to know how much it costs.. The purpose of today was to get a feel for patient care dynamics, and to apply a bit of our current knowledge. The simulator was set up for a post Myocardial Infarction patients who was going into respiratory distress. The lab was set up as a resuscitation room in an ER. We had a fully stocked crash cart, cardiac monitor, and pretty much anything else you would find in the real setting. We were able to use meds, intubation, IV, could request chest Xray, MRI, CT etc, in order to try to save the patient. We were split up into groups and each had a role to play. The role of team leader was taken, but I was assigned IV start and med administration which I was okay with. We have very little knowledge of pharmacology right now, and really don't have too much instruction on IV and none on intubation.. So were really were told to experiment:P I was able to start an IV and with our knowledge of some meds (and some help form the professors) we were able to save the patient. Little bit of furosemide, beta blockers, and morphine was all that was needed:) It was really cool incorporating EKG along with Xray and what not to figure out the issue. Im looking forward to more of these scenarios.
Another thing to mention is the Student government! A few weeks ago I applied to be a MED 2 class representative on the SGA. After a week or so I was appointed. It has been pretty neat so far. Getting the inside scoop on things, helping to plan events on campus, relaying information to my classmates etc. Today we got to hand out valentines candy :) It will take up a bit of time, but I think it will be worth it. So far so good. Im looking forward to seeing what else I have to do.
Another thing of important has to do with MED 2 / EBS 2. Today was officially the last day for MED 2's to drop to EBS. I am now in MED for the remainder of my time here on SK whether I like it or not! It was a scary decision, and one that I had to take very seriously. At the end of the day, I was going to be happier in MED 2 so I decided to stick with it. There are many variables and I think it is important for each person to make that call based on their own circumstance, but I will give you a few important factors to think about.
1) Cost. There is quite a cost difference between EBS and MED, but at the end of the day you pay the same as EBS because they stay on the island for one more semester. The only real difference is that you will have to pay living expenses for 1 extra semester. The important things to note here are with regards to fixed rates. EBS is a fixed rate tuition which means for 5 semester you pay the same rate regardless of whether you are a full time or part time student. If you find yourself in the position where you have to repeat a course and it forces you to stay on the island another semester (extra semester 6), you will be charged a prorated fee as long as you are under the amount of credits for a full time student. The difference with MED is that the tuition is not fixed. If I wanted too, next semester I could drop to a part time student and pay a prorated fee. I don't have to complete my 4 semesters before getting a prorated fee. This means that if you are like me and stuck in MED for the rest of your days, you can still lighted the load if you need too. It means you will have to take an extra semester (5th semester in the case of MED), but if all works out you will still get a prorated fee. Just something to keep in mind.
2) Difficulty level. It is hard to predict in MED 2 how the rest of the semesters will be. This was one thing that I struggled with. MED 2 is one of the hardest semesters (people say at least) but who's to say that a class you have to take in semester 3 isn't going to be one of your hardest courses. Its all relative with your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your interest level in a particular course. So the future is a little unknown and that to me is the scary part. There is no denying that MED is much more hectic, but at the end of the day it gets you off the island one semester sooner.
3) How much of a life you want. I find this another important factor. As a MED, I am compelled to study on a Friday night, while a few of my friends form EBS are going out. I mean there is huge variation in the study techniques of people, but for the most part, EBS will have more free time to play with then MED. Not to say the there are some EBS that study just as much as me, but there is some wiggle room. If you are someone who will be very disappointed having to miss out on a few outings, then staying with MED and being miserable might not be the best option. If you are accepted into MED, I suggest you try it out. Worst case scenario, you drop to EBS. You have until MED 2 after block 1 to make a final decision. These are just some of the things to think about. Everyone is different so make the decision for yourself.
Thats all I really have to talk about for now! Thanks everyone.
Things Ive learned this week
- Having to talk to your class of 100 about bathroom etiquette as your first job as class representative is rather "Shitty".
- I have too much stuff to do this weekend which means I can't go on an awesome hike that is happening tomorrow.. I realized this after class today :(
- Im running out of good pens.
- I have to design a T-shirt for a group at school.
- When I have 1 hour of free time in a day, and it is during lunch, it is really hard to find time to ask profs questions..
- People actually travel and go home during the semester! Like on weekends and stuff...
- The umbrella I have reduces the water that falls on me by about 20%
Thats about it! Heading home to interpret some 12 leads.
Good vibes everyone!
(Pictures for the Hike below)
Cheers,
Mike
This blog post is about a week late, but better late then never I suppose.
Last time I left off I was just about to begin the last week before Block 1 exams. Not much happened that week except for Block 1 Prep (that I can remember anyways). The more important thing to talk about I guess would be how Block one of semester 2 went!
The weekend before block monday (last weekend) was a typical pre block weekend. Study from 8am until you have to go to bed. These weekends really are the worst, but at the same time are very necessary to your success on Block day. I say this because we continue to get new material normally up until Thursday. Friday is normally saved for reviews. This means that you really have very little time to study previously covered material until the weekend. This is another very important reason why you should do very efficient studying during the weekdays. The more familiar you are with the material, the less stressful the weekend before blocks will be. On Sunday, I stopped studying around 10pm to get a bit more sleep before Monday.
The actually block day started off pretty good. You see, block one exams are always the worst, especially when you have professors who you have not had before. This is because their testing style is not known. My first exam of the day was Biochemistry at 8am and I thought it went well. The exam was very fair and well written. If you studied and knew your stuff, there was no surprises. The next exam for me was Physiology. This is where my schedule deviated from the EBS 2 group. They had a break while we wrote the exam. The physiology exam wasnt too bad, except there were time constraints. Each question was either a paragraph long, or had some graph to distinguish. At this point all the questions we get are 2nd 3rd or 4th order. They are written in a way that memorizing simply will not work. There are never questions that simply ask you something that was written on a slide. They will give you a capillary wedge pressure and based on the pressure will ask you what cardiac pressure curve would best represent the cardiac valve disorder that is giving rise to the abnormal pressure. So you not only have to know about capillary wedge pressure values, you also need to know what heart valve problems give rise to those values. You also need to know how to tell from a pressure curve which valve disorder is what. So as you can tell, the questions take a while. I found that they were fair, but a few extra minutes would have been nice. After physio I had genetics. My first run through of the exam I thought was tough. On my second pass (review of my answers) I caught a few mistakes I had made (always go through your exam befit submitting!!). I then had a 2 hours break before my last exam which was immunology. This was by far the hardest out of the 4 for me. Monday when the marks came in, I was happy with all of them except for Immuno.. So I will just have to make sure I study extra hard these next 4 weeks to get me at a point where I am comfortable again.
So far this block, things have been good. Physio still remains my favourite class, but Biochem is also pretty neat. Genetics is getting better because we are learning a lot of diseases. The most exciting thing that happened this week was with regards to our first Physio lab! For the remainder of the semester, we will have a lab every Friday. This afternoon it was my rotation to do a Simulator scenario. It was really cool. We use the high fidelity simulators, which essentially is the closest thing to a real patient you can get. It has radial, femoral, carotid pulse point, Can take blood pressures, the thing talks to you and can respond to pain, full lung and bowl sounds, cardiac sounds, anatomically correct airway for intubation, functioning vessels for IV and blood taking, catheter capabilities with urine output, vitals change when you give medications etc. This thing is a lot of fun. Don't want to know how much it costs.. The purpose of today was to get a feel for patient care dynamics, and to apply a bit of our current knowledge. The simulator was set up for a post Myocardial Infarction patients who was going into respiratory distress. The lab was set up as a resuscitation room in an ER. We had a fully stocked crash cart, cardiac monitor, and pretty much anything else you would find in the real setting. We were able to use meds, intubation, IV, could request chest Xray, MRI, CT etc, in order to try to save the patient. We were split up into groups and each had a role to play. The role of team leader was taken, but I was assigned IV start and med administration which I was okay with. We have very little knowledge of pharmacology right now, and really don't have too much instruction on IV and none on intubation.. So were really were told to experiment:P I was able to start an IV and with our knowledge of some meds (and some help form the professors) we were able to save the patient. Little bit of furosemide, beta blockers, and morphine was all that was needed:) It was really cool incorporating EKG along with Xray and what not to figure out the issue. Im looking forward to more of these scenarios.
Another thing to mention is the Student government! A few weeks ago I applied to be a MED 2 class representative on the SGA. After a week or so I was appointed. It has been pretty neat so far. Getting the inside scoop on things, helping to plan events on campus, relaying information to my classmates etc. Today we got to hand out valentines candy :) It will take up a bit of time, but I think it will be worth it. So far so good. Im looking forward to seeing what else I have to do.
Another thing of important has to do with MED 2 / EBS 2. Today was officially the last day for MED 2's to drop to EBS. I am now in MED for the remainder of my time here on SK whether I like it or not! It was a scary decision, and one that I had to take very seriously. At the end of the day, I was going to be happier in MED 2 so I decided to stick with it. There are many variables and I think it is important for each person to make that call based on their own circumstance, but I will give you a few important factors to think about.
1) Cost. There is quite a cost difference between EBS and MED, but at the end of the day you pay the same as EBS because they stay on the island for one more semester. The only real difference is that you will have to pay living expenses for 1 extra semester. The important things to note here are with regards to fixed rates. EBS is a fixed rate tuition which means for 5 semester you pay the same rate regardless of whether you are a full time or part time student. If you find yourself in the position where you have to repeat a course and it forces you to stay on the island another semester (extra semester 6), you will be charged a prorated fee as long as you are under the amount of credits for a full time student. The difference with MED is that the tuition is not fixed. If I wanted too, next semester I could drop to a part time student and pay a prorated fee. I don't have to complete my 4 semesters before getting a prorated fee. This means that if you are like me and stuck in MED for the rest of your days, you can still lighted the load if you need too. It means you will have to take an extra semester (5th semester in the case of MED), but if all works out you will still get a prorated fee. Just something to keep in mind.
2) Difficulty level. It is hard to predict in MED 2 how the rest of the semesters will be. This was one thing that I struggled with. MED 2 is one of the hardest semesters (people say at least) but who's to say that a class you have to take in semester 3 isn't going to be one of your hardest courses. Its all relative with your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your interest level in a particular course. So the future is a little unknown and that to me is the scary part. There is no denying that MED is much more hectic, but at the end of the day it gets you off the island one semester sooner.
3) How much of a life you want. I find this another important factor. As a MED, I am compelled to study on a Friday night, while a few of my friends form EBS are going out. I mean there is huge variation in the study techniques of people, but for the most part, EBS will have more free time to play with then MED. Not to say the there are some EBS that study just as much as me, but there is some wiggle room. If you are someone who will be very disappointed having to miss out on a few outings, then staying with MED and being miserable might not be the best option. If you are accepted into MED, I suggest you try it out. Worst case scenario, you drop to EBS. You have until MED 2 after block 1 to make a final decision. These are just some of the things to think about. Everyone is different so make the decision for yourself.
Thats all I really have to talk about for now! Thanks everyone.
Things Ive learned this week
- Having to talk to your class of 100 about bathroom etiquette as your first job as class representative is rather "Shitty".
- I have too much stuff to do this weekend which means I can't go on an awesome hike that is happening tomorrow.. I realized this after class today :(
- Im running out of good pens.
- I have to design a T-shirt for a group at school.
- When I have 1 hour of free time in a day, and it is during lunch, it is really hard to find time to ask profs questions..
- People actually travel and go home during the semester! Like on weekends and stuff...
- The umbrella I have reduces the water that falls on me by about 20%
Thats about it! Heading home to interpret some 12 leads.
Good vibes everyone!
(Pictures for the Hike below)
Cheers,
Mike