Around Campus

This past week just flew by but I did manage to take a few photos... The third one below is from the top of the hill and it is my favorite view on campus.

I love how I can see the water in the distance and the campus below. I try to walk this way to class every day and appreciate that I am in Grenada.  The other views are not bad either...

This last picture is a shot of the Bell Tower lecture hall and the place I spend a min of 4 hours every day. Good times! (There are officially 417 first term students, in case anyone was wondering.)

Another Week

So, I cannot sleep again... I don't know if it was the 2 hour nap after lecture (thank you migraine and Relpax for that!), the cup of coffee at 8pm or the fact that I'm feeling a little guilty for the amount (or lack thereof) of studying I accomplished today but here it is, after 2am and I am wide awake. I tried Netter's anatomy flashcards, they usually put me to sleep but to no avail... but maybe I can name all the muscles of the thenar now.

In more exciting news (oh wait, I'm in medical school, my life is class and studying, there is no exciting news, sorry to get your hopes up) this marks the start of my third week of classes... time is going by so quickly! DES study groups stated this week and I went to a biochem review tonight, it was pretty decent and since there were three tutors and only three students we got one-on-one time so that was good. I also looked at 50 epithelium slides via Histotime in my least favorite place, the library.  (Too bad I can't figure out how to run it on my computer- not very Mac compatible. If anyone know any tricks please do tell...)  But there was no one at the library so I did get to print about 100 pages of notes and BRS material, yay! What else can I say?

Run down of my weekend:

Saturday- I met with a small anatomy study group and that was good.  Afterwards we headed to IGA for groceries and then stopped for dinner at some bar/restaurant, the name escapes me, near the rotary. It was my first experience of true Grenadian service. Menus were already on the table when we sat down and after 20 minutes one of girls I was with asked if someone would help us. Within 5 minutes our orders were placed and we had food within 15 minutes so overall, not too bad. And it was cheap: I got a fish sandwich ($11 EC) fries ($8 EC) and diet coke ($3.50EC) so with tip my meal cost around $28EC or $11 US! No complaints here...  That really was the highlight of my weekend. I had planned to go to the beach in the morning, just for an hour or so but it was raining and thus I stayed inside with my books.... (I am sad to report that I have yet to go to the beach. It is not far but it seems that every time I try, it is either raining or I'm in the middle of studying.) Sunday was anatomy lab-small group where I realized just how much I need to study after which I headed to Mocha Jumby for my usual.

So now another week of classes...  and only two weeks until the Unified Quiz (its only worth 5% of our grade but it lets us know how we are doing, kind of a check system to make sure your study methods are working before you take the midterm three weeks later.) 

That is about it, sorry I can't be more exciting. But I promise more pictures soon!

Sleep Evades Me...

I finally get it. Dr. Boyfriend spent many a med school night tossing and turning and I would always wonder why he was so nervous. Before every test, new rotation, etc. he seemed to be anxiety ridden the night before. He would toss and turn and talk to me all night. I would say, "don't worry and GO TO SLEEP!" Well I'm 10 days in and I cannot seem to sleep. I've given up at this point, four hours of trying and I have to wake up in an hour anyhow. Tomorrow, or rather today, it just FEELS like tomorrow, I have my first anatomy lab. Now I know that Dr. Loukas will not kick me out of the lab or make me stand on my head because I forget what innervates trapezius but still I keep thinking of everything I might not know.... Is this logical? Of course not, but I can't help it. In two hours I start my marathon of a day: dry lab, wet lab, small groups and then fours hours of lecture before trying to study for the night and the chances of me making it through two hours of biochem and two hour of anatomy lecture are not looking good. Not unless I can find some espresso on this island. 

Also I thought the sun would be getting up soon, but no,its pitch dark out!  I always thought being this close to the equator would mean more daylight and I was disappointed my first week when it would be dark by the time I ate dinner and got to Mocha Jumby's, I just figured it I woke up early I would see the sun (but up until today I haven't had the need to get up before 7am.) And thanks to google, I now know, that today the sun doesn't rise until 6:32am (it sets at 6:08pm) so I have another hour of night. Speaking of google, my bioethics professor shared this was us yesterday. Maybe you'll enjoy it too! Era, I dedicate this to you.  

You Either Have IT or You Don't...?

Today is my 10th day of medical school. So far I have had over 40 hours of lecture and many more hours of studying, and it is just the beginning... Earlier this week we had a lecture given by a guest speaker, Dr. Hauser (Asst Prof, Med and Palliative Care at Northwestern University). The topic was Ethics in Clinical Care and it was perhaps the most interesting and enjoyable hours of my medical school beginning.  

Yet of the over 400 students in my first term class the majority missed what Dr. Hauser had to share. Now having four hours of lecture every day, and often small group or lab lectures beforehand can be tiresome so it is understandable that some of my classmates would leave. (Disclaimer: I myself missed class yesterday for the first time. I opted to nap during biochem and watch the lectures later via Angel.)  However it was not just a few souls, from the looks of the lecture hall about 2/3 of the class did leave, 1/3 left before bioethics even began. In their defense we are just starting to figure our this med school thing and it seems that we must study and prepare for the next day and ending at 5pm does not leave a lot of time to do so... Maybe the thought of taking an extra hour was too tempting to pass up.... but still it was a little disheartening to see that my future colleagues really did not want to hear about Palliative Care or the ethics of medicine. 

For those students that did stay many were engaged in the lecture and I believe most thought it worth their time. But I've been thinking about this and it came to mind again as I was reading over several recent articles in the New York Times dealing with the subjects of bedside manner and the teachability of ethics and compassion. Check them out yourself and let me know what you think...

One Week

Yesterday marked the end of my first week of classes. It is hard to believe that I have only been on the island for 10 days. It seems like I've been here forever.... and I must be acclimating because I am no longer hot every time I step outside and I've even gotten cold in the lecture halls these past few days. My classes are going well, we really do have amazing professors. Yesterday our Intro to Embryo Lecture was given by Dr. Persaud who co-authored our book, "Before We Are Born" and flies from U of Manitoba in Canada twice a year just to lecture to SGU students. Being in lectures for a straight 4 hours a day has taken some getting use to and labs start next week so I'm going to be even busier. But I have a routine now and like my classes and classmates. I'm off to the anatomy lab to try and figure out what all the muscles of the back look like.