In the midst of it

I feel like an athlete near the end of a long long race-  surprised that I'm actually near the finishing line. Also though, struggling to gather the final oomph. My first real exam is in 6 days and yes I am calmly studying away, hour after hour, day after day, but I am so very ready for a break.

Every day (bar Wednesday nights) is like this: Wake up. Breakfast. Study. Lunch. Study. Exercise. Dinner. Study. Bed. 

I used to laugh at med students and think surely it is not necessary to study every night or all weekend! However it is. Of course not every med student studies this much. Many people in my course have come from undergraduate degrees in biomedical science. They've been lucky enough to do some learning and lots of revising this semester. OT although wonderful in so many areas, has not really helped with medicine so far- I'm hoping it'll shine forth when we're actually relating to patients. I'm still overwhelmed how much my peers know, but at least now I feel like I can hold my own. Finally in PBL I understand what they are talking about and can contribute! 

It seems like all us med students are feeling a little sorry for ourselves at the moment. Sometimes though, we discuss the greater horrors of applying for medicine and not getting in. This cheers us up immensely. 

We had our first exam on Thursday. It was theology and it's pretty difficult to fail. As we were filling in the cover sheets everyone was whispering questions such as: 

'What's the date?'

'Is it June or July'?

'Is it 2010 or 2011'?

'How do you write numbers in words'?

Hahaha. Oh dear our poor poor tired brains!

We are all a little crazy. I'm pretty sure 90% of us are studying in track pants and/ pyjamas and ugg boots. I'm so cold that I've taken to tying a hot water bottle to my stomach with a scarf! Procrastibaking is a new favourite hobby of many of us, much like watching 'medical' shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs and classing them as study.  As I sit and study  I have the misguided words of Abba in my head- ''study study study, must be funny, in a non-med's world''. 

MUST KEEP STUDYING

Some people are asking me for my exam times so:

• 24/06/11, sit in a lab and rotate around cadavers and models and answer science questions
• 28/06/11, sit in an exam room and answer some science (eg. this person is lying in the middle of the road why could this be??) and some population health (prevalence, statistics) with medical issues (eg. a mother wants to donate her son's kidney to her daughter is this allowed)
• 1/07/11, rotate through 4 stations where I take a medical history or do an examination on an actor. This could be: gastrointestinal, skin, reproductive, renal.

Too relaxed.

If you were writing a blog every week or two what would you include?

Medicine is getting harder to write about. I think perhaps this is because I am now a med student- and I know this to my core. There is no doubt about it- my uni isn't going to suddenly realise that my place was a mistake and ask me to leave the course!

When kids are little they seem to have the need to let everyone know that they go to school or that they are now a 'big' kid. However as they grow into being a student and an actual big kid there is no need to dwell on the fact. Studying medicine is beginning to feel normal and I am starting to feel secure in my ability to 'make it' as a doctor.

This feeling of security is a little bit of a shock. I know last week that I made the decision not to stress about passing exams anymore, but this is ridiculous. I haven't felt this peaceful or full of joy for months, possibly since I found out that I got into medicine in October last year. Exams are in two weeks and everyone is freaking out and me the 'stress head' is laughing, skipping and relaxing. I feel like I'm on holidays. Don't worry though I have revised everything at least once and have a plan to revise it all again, with a special focus on pharmacology (which does my head in).

This brings me to my big 'ah ha' moment for the week. Oh dear what an occupational therapy phase- 'ah ha moment'! Perth is pretty sunny during the day, but nights are freezing. I literally study with my winter coat on, uggboots and a granny lap blanket and sometimes even a warm hat. A couple of nights ago this cold was so penetrating that I couldn't sleep for two hours despite numerous socks and blankets. In the end I put on uggboots and crawled back into bed. Never before have I had to sleep with shoes on!!! The following day I purchased a hot water bottle and my house no longer feels cold. The hot water bottle was so simple and yet it solves everything. Maybe medicine is like my house- yes it is harder than most degrees, but perhaps there is something simple (like a hot water bottle) that will make it more possible.

The wonderful thing is I think I've discovered it. A simple yet comprehensive routine makes medicine quite easy (we'll see if I pass these exams if this is true!!). This is my recipie for passing medicine next semester.

1. Always go to bed around 10/11pm. Get 8 hours sleep.

2. Always get 30 minutes of exercise each day- preferably through running

3. Always complete the core learning material for each week on the weekend

4. Always cook one big meal each week and freeze lots of serves

5. Always revise the anatomy pracs and do readings on the train

6. Always revise each week (Thursdays) in this order:

• The week before's content
• an earlier week (starting with the first week of the year and then the next the following week and so on)

7. Give my self a quick pharmacology test or clinical skills test every week night that I study

8. Always take one night off each week

9. Stop being a fool and use my OT skills to buy an office chair that won't hurt my back!

10. Stay in regular contact with people back home

This means that I'll be healthy, happy and have revised everything even before exams hit. Yay!!!!!!

Can you now see why I feel so happy? I finally have a plan- and a plan that is GOOD.

This week we've continued studying reproduction and the urinary system. I had no idea how complicated the whole system is. Things I do like though is that the prostate gland makes an antibacterial substance to help protect the sperm and the oviduct makes glycogen (stored sugar) to feed the fertilised egg. It's also amazing to hear how wrong our previous understanding of the system is. Some of us used to think that the egg exploded inside the uterus and that's where periods came from. Other people thought women laid the eggs a little like chickens and yet others thought both females and men make sperm. Ah how fun our tutes have been this fortnight!!!

Let me leave you with this cartoon. I think it's pretty obvious which one I am!

Teddy bears!

Gah life.

I really want to capture the small wonderful bits of med life. One day I'll look back on this and laugh.

Everyone at uni is slightly hyperactive, manic and basically a little on edge. Friends can be snappy and those who never ever get stressed say things like 'Ahhhh I'm just so stressed', just to fit in with the mood. Exams are looming and so the atmosphere is tense with electricity like the sky before a storm. 

Conversations have therefore become a little weird. One lunch break was spent discussing what type of cell we'd be- any cell in the human body. I said a neuron as I'd always be excited. Guys tended to say sperm or macrophages as it'd mean they could go on adventures and eat lots of stuff (even though it's mainly rubbish and germs). My favourite though was the student who wanted to be a cancer cell- as they are immortal (if not treated).

Despite they craziness of this pre exam rush- I've taken today off from study!!! Since starting med in January I've only had 6 full days off (including today). I'm beginning to think that so much study is a little counter productive. Hopefully the day off will end in amazing study tomorrow and on the weekend.   Today was a little special as I got to be a teddy bear doctor. 8 first year and 3 second year students went to a primary school to treat around 60 teddy bears. We walked in wearing our white lab coats with our stethoscopes around our necks. It was amazing have kids scream excitedly 'look at all the doctors, doctors, real doctors' and then the teachers gently correct 'teddy bear doctors'. Seeing 60 patients in 2 hours was exhausting (even though we only did around 6 each).  It was amazing how many teddies had sore tummies or broken legs. The camel with the four broken legs and broken tail who got hit by a car was my favourite. To help kids overcome their fear of doctors we tried to involve them in the treatment. This kid was quite pleased to inject antibiotics into the poor camel. At least 20 injections were given. 

Last night I went to a dinner with 20ish female med students and three female surgeons. The food was delicious, but I was more excited to be sitting next to a colorectal surgeon. She said earlier that day in theatre poo had got everywhere- but she'd managed to squeeze in a shower before dining with us. It was nice to hear that surgery is a very real option for females and that being enthusiastic is the key to being remembered by consultants and being given opportunities. It was also interesting to hear that surgeons are generally not allowed to operate for the rest of the day, if they lose a patient on the table. Finally girls can be surgeons and have kids- they just need to have a nanny and possibly a cleaner and maybe even a cook. 

Each week I talk a little about something I learnt that is medical and something that is not. Why do I always go through a crazy stressed period where I think I'm going to fail? Yet I never do. I march around telling everyone, including myself, that there is no hope. It makes me miserable. This year I'm going to try and break this stupid habit. I know I use it a little like sharks use blood- it razes me up into a study frenzy. It's not worth it though and others shouldn't have to put up with it either. 

This week we studied the male urinary system. I'm not going to discuss it too much here. I know I have to have frank discussions about such things with patients- but it's not normal to do so with my non-med friends or family (well not in a blog anyway). It was pretty funny though to be reading my lecture notes on the train- to suddenly realise that all the school girls were giggling! I forgot that the lecturers like to include lots of photos. 

I love medicine- it's full of funny moments.