Week 10: In the books

We had our third block of exams this week. A lot of the frustration and stress have caught up with everyone now. I think I spent as much or more time studying for these than I did for the first two and did worse in Anatomy, but the same in Histology and Public Health. Public Health is still aggrivating me to no end since I can go in and explain all the concept, teach other students, discuss why the questions are worded poorly and end up getting them wrong. Ugh

Subsequently, there are also the most school sponsored events now. We had a Zeelandia Beach clean up on Saturday morning, and then the Basketball Tournament that night. The basketball tournament was a lot of fun but I’m going to be mad about it for a while. We went to the finals undefeated and played a team that was rested and shouldn’t have even been there right after we played a game and lost by two points.

Now it’s time to buckle down and really get after it for finals. The finals are all worth 35% to 50% of the total grades for the class. It is kind of discouraging to think that all the work you put in is still in jeopardy.

Week 9: Pain in the A$$

We just started the third set of exams. In anatomy, we’re responsible for the thorax and the abdomen. The lab exam was on friday and the theory is on wednesday. Histology is also on wednesday and covers the digestive system, the integumentary system, the urinary system and the reproductive system. i think that’s it. and in public health, i really haven’t been paying attention, biostatistics mostly and some information on case studies used in epidemiology that she is murdering. I’m back to just reading the book and studying my old exams and notes from the masters program.

they had the statia day celebration and Statia day is supposedly today but no one knows what or why. I think it’s got a little something to do with St. Eustatius being the first ones to recognize the U.S. as an independent country and some other things. they had the regatta on thursday and then downtow had a lot of booths and some stuff on friday and saturday. the electric company opened it’s new building with a celebration on friday night. free food and drinks. a lot of drinks. too many drinks. today there were fire works and they had the drag races down by the beach in zeelandia.

i’m tired of school, studying and the craziness of people under stress.

Week 6 In the Books

Finally finished week 6 here on the island. It was an interesting one to say the least. We had class Monday, I was sick. Tuesday was normal, I had to run around on the island to find the only notary public who flies in for the mornings, one day a week to get my birth certificate re-notarized because the stamp from Illinois didn’t have a date on it. Totally made me angry, but I got it done and now have to wait for another couple weeks until I get a print out that says my documentation is done and then go on the treasure hunt that is the temporary residence card. Wednesday we only had one hour of class before getting sent home for the hurricane. Thursday we had off and Friday we checked in at 8AM and then had a review for 2 hours and one hour of Public health review and that was it. The lab was open all weekend so I spent both days going to that. I hate it when there are a lot of people in the lab, it’s hard to see and everyone is yelling out what they think the structure is, it just gets really confusing and aggrivating.

Anyway, Exam week this week. We have lab exam on monday, tuesday off for statia day, wednesday anatomy theory and histology, and pubic health on thursday. Friday until Monday is reading break. A lot of people are going to St. Maarten and St. Kitts on the boat. I might hike the volcano. Whoopie!

Wish me luck

Week 5 Already?

You bet your sweet bottom I’m done with 5 weeks here! Excited to say the least. 430 days until the end of 4th Term. HAHA. Got one more week before another set of exams. This weekend the island will pretty much be a ghost town. We have this coming Friday and the following Monday as “reading days” so no school, and the tests that Tuesday. A lot of people were thinking about going to St. Maarten or St. Kitts but I think now people are starting to realize that we need the time to study and don’t really have those kinds of funds to be throwing around on a long weekend.

We started going over the lower limb… this week was pretty cool cause I was able to dissect all three lab days and cover the anterior, posterior and lateral compartments of the leg. The sciatic nerve is HUGE! And our cadavaer has like 5 inches of adipose covering the gluteus maximus. Made me want to eat salad for about a year.

Other than that, not much to report. Still a lot of studying still to do. We’re covering the thorax this week. Hope that this little stomach thing I had over the weekend was just a passing thing and I hope to stay healthy for at least the next two weeks. That would be grrrreat.

Week 4 Revisited

This week was kind of screwy. We had two exams on Tuesday and one on Wednesday so everything was kind of thrown off. Monday was completely off for the 1st termers as a Reading Day so we spent much of it in the library. Tuesday we took the Anatomy in the morning and the Histology in the afternoon. After the tests, we went down to the beach for a half hour to swim and then came back up to study for Public Health on Wednesday. After the public health test, we played basketball on the courts near the Administration building. It was pretty cool, a bunch of people came out and we were able to play like 8 or 10 games. We had to pay 10 guilders for an hour of lights but the games went pretty fast and everyone pitched in so it was cheap and fun. Somewhere in there, we went out one of the nights and hung out with some of the people in different classes and they took us to White Wall to chill. We could see the lights of St. Kitts and I’ve never seen so many stars. It was windy so there weren’t any bugs and it was a little cooler over there so it turned out to be great. There were some birthdays this week too so everyone went out on Friday to Smoke Alley. Afterwards, we headed up to Hong Kong to hang out and get some food and I met a bunch more of the upper termers. It was really cool just relaxing and hanging out with people. Sunday we played football on the field near the airport and then cleaned up and watched some soccer (school vs. locals) in the afternoon. Headed back to the pad and watched some TV and started studying again. That’s enough for now, ttyl

Week 3 Review

The power went out on Monday, but the school has generators so it’s like the one place I can go to charge my laptop and phone and hopefully use the Internet. The connection has been a problem and really getting to me because it was working great and then for the past week it has only been connecting me to the router and not the full Internet. Public health without wikipedia and public health without facebook is awful. So far histo has been review of high school anatomy and biology classes. Public health has been frustrating me because it seems like she’s reading it and interpreting what she reads and using that as the foundation of the class even though there are 5 of us with advanced degrees who have been talking during the breaks and discussing how we were taught the ideas and concepts in the states. I think I am just going to read the book and then go through my old notes and stuff to prepare for the exams. I don’t like the book much either because the authors didn’t lay the material out very well. I really appreciate the classes I took at UIC, they had their stuff together.

We had our anatomy lab practical exam and I think the scores were all over the place. Some people studied everything and did pretty well, some of us read the review slides, used the netter’s flashcards, read the class text and the BRS and did fine, and some only looked at the slides and listened to people tell them how easy it was going to be and strugggled on the test. The bottom line is that it is your education and no one studies  or learns the same way so you have to be accountable to yourself for learning it and putting in the work. It is medical school, the bare minimum might get you far enough along to kill someone who’s depending on you, whereas you can never be too prepared. Why even risk being under-prepared?

Next week, we don’t have school on Monday, Tuesday is the Anatomy theory test and the Hisology written exam, Wednesday is the Public Health written exam, and then Thursday and Friday are normal. I’m looking forward to next weekend when we’re back at the beginning of the 3 weeks before the next set of exams!

Week 2 Reflection

So it’s Sunday and we’ve just finished our second week. It’s been intense, finishing the back and getting through the upper limb with all of the muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, bones, etc. There is so much to know and so little time. I remember taking these classes and learning this stuff really well before but there was so much more time to do it in. Now, it feels like I know some of it, but not as in depth as requires and it isn’t a simple refreshing of my memory. At points while sitting in study hall, trying to take in the information feels like I’m just bouncing a tennis ball off the wall… you just have to keep repeating until it sticks.

The first week was hot and sunny 90 degrees all the time. This week it’s been pouring rain most of the day every day. So weird. It is comical how the weather really affects peoples’ outlooks and perceptions. It is so easy to be overwhelmed and negative with all this stress, especially in a new place but if you think it, you create your reality. I really think that people have a prejudice that medical school should be difficult and morbid and that you are being professional if you aren’t smiling or seem to be having fun. As if when people ask them how it is going, they must respond how hard and difficult it is to generate respect and sympathy, and to keep the notion that it is some insurmountable obstacle to fame and fortune blah blah. People probably are looking at me like I’m nuts cause I wave at every car, dance to class, smile at everyone and just love the experience of being able to come out here and get my work done to get a degree. Might as well smile and enjoy it while you can. Life is too short and much too good to let it slip by undetected.

First Week In Review

So it’s sunday and we’ve just finished our first week here on the island. The first half of the week was mostly orientation, while the second half was sitting in lecture and going over syllabi and regulations, and taking notes. From the looks of everything, Anatomy is going to be by far the largest time-consumer. The professor The histology runs into the anatomy so it’s pretty nice that we might just have to skim over some of it. The public health is set up very strangely. There are three professors for the class and they all teach different aspects of “public health”. One instructor is very enthusiastic but uses epidemiology and public health as synonyms and has some other odd variations on the field. It kind of bothers me but I guess I’ll just have to read the book and go off the stuff I learned in my masters degree and I think I’ll be fine.

Some side notes:

You will lose 10 pounds in your first week here. Doesn’t matter if you’re from Arizona, California, Texas, etc. It’s going to happen because you sweat all the time and just can’t take in that much water.

When you are really dehydrated, urine looks like the fluid in a highlighter.

The island is fine if you have realistic expectations. It is a great place to study and experience the real Caribbean without the resorts, casinos, and things you could ultimately get back home. The upper-termers are cool and helpful if you don’t act a fool. It isn’t America and we are guests on the island.

I think it’s going to be a great experience and even better opportunity.

And the race begins!

We just finished the first two days of medical school. So far it has all been orientation, school policies, rules, regulations, immigration forms, introductions, white coat ceremony, etc. Looking at the schedule, it feels as if we are about to be dropped on a running treadmill starting tomorrow. Better start moving the feet and hit the ground rolling! As I understand it, there are tests every 3 weeks in every class, we should be doing 5 questions out of the First Aid for USMLE Step 1 book, and reading things in the field we are interested in, and participating in extra curricular clubs and activities, and we have no time to do it. Hopefully this is all going to be like football where things are happening so fast because we are new and just don’t understand yet. Then, when we get acclimated to the pace, the reading and notes and studying and life will become somewhat manageable. Nervous but excited!

First Day On Island

Today was my first full day on the island of St. Eustatius. I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the island. It doesn’t have all of the amenities that some of the “tourist” islands have but I think that’s what makes it a good choice for me. It’s small so everything is within walking distance, everyone is friendly, it’s colorful, I think as of this moment I’m really going to enjoy being here.

The parents and I got in yesterday at about 7pm after leaving for the airport at 3am in Chicago. Long day of flying but everything went smoothly. The bags are here, everything I shipped was dropped off this morning, and I’m almost totally unpacked. We even got picked up from the airport and dropped off at my apartment with my luggage, and my parents were taken to the hotel.

Today, the greeting committee came and took another classmate and me on a tour of the whole island. It was pretty cool to go around and get a feel of where everything is located. With the hurricanes, there has been a lot of quick bouts of rain followed by sun and breeze. Went to dinner with the parents at the Old Gin House for BBQ night but they were on Caribbean time and my dad was hungry so we went to the Golden Era and had dinner. Walked back to the apartment in the dark… note to self, always bring a flashlight… things are good!