Stitches

Yesterday was interesting. We began with an intro to neuroradiology from Dr. McCord, which was awesome as usual. We learned about MRIs and CT scans, how to read them and differentiate between different types, as well as the effects of radiation. This was followed by two lectures from a psychiatrist, covering acute and chronic alcohol toxicity. These were interesting and fun as the lecturer was very energetic and enthusiastic.

In the afternoon, we had a surgical skills seminar. We began by learning sterile technique, including how to scrub & dry your hands/arms, enter the operating room, get gloves on, and work around sterile areas. This was followed by a session on how to make different kinds of sutures. We had a competition to see who made the neatest/strongest sutures, and my stitches won the best in the session. Whoop!

All of today was spent studying nonstop for the impeding firestorm on Monday. This is going to be rough.

Pain

Tuesday began with a lecture on pain management, followed by a lecture on painkillers of the NSAID variety: Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin...). Afterwards, we had a lab on identifying sensory pathways from the anterior 2/3 of the head (on brainstem slides).

Wednesday morning we went over a different class of painkillers, the opiates & opioids (morphine, codeine, heroin, etc...). In the afternoon, we first covered the management of chronic pain, and differentiating between patients who are truly in pain and those exhibiting drug-seeking behavior. Following this lecture, we went over the corticospinal tract, which provides most of the motor function to our body from the neck down.

As for today, we begin by studying the corticobulbar tract, which provides the motor function to our head, including the face, eyes, and jaw. This was followed by a lecture on spinal reflexes and muscle tone, which basically explained why we use reflex hammers and how we are able to sit upright and stand still. In the afternoon, we had a lab over yesterday's corticospinal tract lecture (it seems all the labs are looking at the same slides of brainstem sections). With the test rapidly approaching on Monday, I'll be doing a lot of studying this weekend....

Easy Tonight

Well, Colorado was amazing. I had never been skiing before, and it was an incredible feeling. We stayed in a tiny motel at the base of the mountain called the Pinewood Inn, in the town of Pagosa Springs. We drove ~30 minutes every morning up the mountain to Wolf Creek Lodge, where we also either had lunch or took our own. Breakfast and dinner were usually experiments around town, and it was great just hanging out and not thinking about school at all.

This week is off to a leisurely start, as we only had a lab over the sensory pathways from the body, and a lecture over how to approach neurological lesion questions on an exam. The rest of the week is not very dense, but learning all of these slides will take some time... back to work.

The Leaving Song

Wednesday was rather brief, as we only had one lecture and a lab. The lecture covered basic concepts of drugs affecting the Central Nervous System, as well concepts of drug dependance. In the lab, we looked at dozens of slides of the brain stem and spinal cord. This was a bitch, as we have to be able to identify precisely what level of brainstem or spinal cord we are looking at just from its general appearance. We also have to be able to identify indistinct "nuclei" and "tracts" which are basically faint light or dark spots in the slide section. We have to be able to figure out how these areas correlate with the various sensory and motor pathways we will be learning in coming weeks, as well as the effects of lesioning said pathways.

Yesterday we went over vascular disorders of the brain (strokes, aneurysms, hemorrhages, etc.), followed by 3 lectures on local anesthesia, migraine therapy, and the sensory pathways of pain and temperature for the body and posterior 1/3 of the head. In the afternoon, we had an incredibly tedious and poorly organized lecture on genetic diseases of the CNS. Not fun.

Today, we had an introductory lecture to neurology, which mainly consists of diagnosing diseases of the nervous system based on the presenting symptoms. This was followed by a lab where we examined blood supply and cerebrospinal fluid circulation in the brain. In the afternoon we went over protein folding diseases involving prions (ie Mad Cow Disease), followed by the pathways that transmit all sensation from the anterior 2/3s of the head.

Now that the first week is over, it is time to pack and head to Dallas, where I will spend the night at Steve's place before starting the road trip to Dallas. No laptop = no updates until my return.

The Past and Pending

As you may have noticed, I have been incredibly busy of late and haven't had time to update my blog. I just began my neuroscience block, so I am going to jump straight into entries concerning neuro, and will retroactively add entries for what was left of my intro to disease block. It is kind of strange because we have our first week of neuro, immediately followed by spring break, after which we continue where we left off and then have our first test. I am going skiing in Colorado with my friend Steve and his brother for spring break, and I am pumped.

First things first. Yesterday we began the neuroscience block, and we kicked it off with a lecture on blood supply to the brain, followed by a lecture on ventricles of the brain and circulation of cerebrospinal fluid. We then had our introductory neuro lab in which we examined gross external features of the human brain. We have 2 "brain buckets": the first contains a whole brain, as well as a half brain (left or right). The second contains two sliced brains, the first sliced many times horizontally, and the second sliced many times sagitally (vertical, lengthwise). Overall an entertaining lab, and future labs should prove to be interesting.

Today, we had 4 lectures covering various topics. The first was over neurotransmitters and receptors, followed by basic neural mechanisms and neural circuitry. We then had a lecture on neurotransmission physiology at the neuromuscular junction. The final lecture was the first of what will be the bread and butter of neuroscience: neural pathways. The first pathway we went over was the dorsal column pathway, which transmits discriminative touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception signals from the body and posterior 1/3 of the head, up to the sensory cortex of the brain.

Although the biochem stuff really blows, the pathways and anatomy are very interesting and this block should prove much less tedious than intro to disease. More updates coming soon.

Waiting for the Night

Well, the test actually went rather well. I was expecting to be crushed by this exam, as even after studying for 3 days straight, nearly 18 hours a day, I did not feel fully prepared. However, the questions were much more basic than anyone expected, and I actually feel that I may have managed to pull off an A. We shall see.... apparently our next test is going to cover FORTY-FIVE LECTURES! Also 3 labs. I thought it was hard enough to get through the 26 lectures that were covered on this exam, I can't imagine learning 45 in 3 weeks. Thankfully none of these exams are cumulative like they were last semester, although that doesn't provide much of a reprieve. The class is visiting Northgate tonight, so at least I can stop thinking about all of this for a few hours....

Swallowed in the Sea

Even with a 3-day weekend (due to MLK day), getting caught up has proven impossible for most of our class. The lectures are so long and detailed that we don't know where to begin. Thankfully there was only one lecture on Tuesday, which dealt with how microbes are able to build resistance to antibiotics. In the afternoon we had our first humanities session with Dr. X, which was very interesting and had to do with how commercials affect a patient's mindset. Wednesday in clinical skills we learned how to test for hearing loss, as well examine the eardrums, nose, and throat with our otoscopes. We then had a double lecture over autoimmune diseases, which was pretty cool, except the professor tried to cram 60 pages of notes into this lecture. Way too much material to pull only 6 exam questions from.

Thursday, we had a pediatrics lecture over the health maintenance of school-aged children and adolescents. This was followed by our 3rd 2-hour POPS session, this time on lupus. We then had a review of all the pediatrics lectures we have had over the past 3 weeks. Friday, we had a biochem lecture which went into the chemistry of autoimmune diseases... it was pretty painful. We ended the week with a series of case studies concerning various immune reactions and autoimmune disorders. I've already forgotten the material from the first week, so I will have to review that before going on and studying the newer lectures. I have a feeling that there will be very little sleep this weekend.

Your Head Is on Fire

SO MUCH TO DO. Holy crap... I stopped going to lecture this week because I am so far behind that the new lectures don't even make sense, and all they do is read from the slide set anyways. I discovered that I benefit much more from getting a decent amount of sleep and then watching the recorded lectures at my own pace. Wednesday began with clinical skills; this time we learned about examining eyes. We practiced testing visual acuity with the letter chart, measuring pupil dilation and reactivity, as well as testing for other ocular ailments. We also learned how to examine the inside of the eye using our ophthalmoscopes, which is rather difficult. There was only one lecture, which was the second part of our genetic disease lecture. Thursday we had a 2-hour POPS session on hypersensitivity reactions, specifically to bee stings. These practical, clinically-oriented sessions are probably the most interesting thing going on right now. Friday we had a lecture over how vaccinations work, followed by a double lecture on toxicology (drugs, poisons, overdoses, and how to treat them). There is so much material that was piled on this week, that any chances of catching up in time for next week are slim.

Long, Long, Long

Things are picking up steam quickly. Yesterday we had another lecture about how the immune system recognizes foreign antigens, followed by a lecture over how inflammation occurs, as well as how hypersensitivity (allergic reaction) occurs. This was followed by the first part of a 2-part lecture on genetic diseases, which was very interesting. This morning we had a pediatrics lecture on health maintenance issues for infants and preschool children. This was followed by 3 intense and tedious lectures over T-cells and regulation of the immune system... the general idea is pretty interesting, but the level of detail they go into is painfully boring.

In the afternoon we had our first humanities session, which is much different this time around. Basically there are 10 or so different "selectives" that we can pick from, and we will be going to this class every week until we switch to our next selective after a few weeks. The selective I got into first is "Media, Health, and Medicine", which is taught by a fellow named "Dr. X". He is quite a character, and I have a feeling that it is going to be infinitely more entertaining than the terrible humanities group sessions we had last semester.

Red Red Wine

Well this weekend was nice and relaxing. I actually managed to go over all the lectures and got caught up in time for tomorrow. Friday night we went to a wine bar called "Downtown Uncorked"... it was fantastic. They had a special deal where you can get 3 half-glasses of any 3 wines on the menu for $18, and they had wines that were $20 just for a single glass as well as $200+ bottles. We ordered a cheese platter that had several types of amazing cheese as well. A very relaxing and sophisticated evening indeed.

Injection

Wow, quite a busy week.... Wednesday morning began with clinical skills, during which we learned to take basic vital signs (pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, etc). In the afternoon we had 3 pathology lectures that gave a basic idea of how cells adapt to stress, get injured, age, and die. Thursday was a great day, as we only had 2 lectures in the morning and had the afternoon off. The lectures dealt with how antibodies work. Friday morning we had a lecture on how B-cells (part of the immune system) are activated. This was followed by a 2 hour POPS (patient-oriented problem solving) lecture about tetanus vaccinations, which was actually pretty awesome. This weekend should be fun, and a bunch of people are going to a wine bar downtown tonight!

A Sort of Homecoming

Hello blogspot, it's been a while...

The break was relaxing, it was nice to not think about school for 2 weeks. While away, I learned that I passed the NBME - although we don't know what grade we got. I saw a lot of family over break that I hadn't seen in a while, and I probably gained 10 pounds from the never-ending dinner parties. For Christmas I mostly got cash and clothing, which is perfect. I also got the Inception bluray and an 8 GB ram upgrade for my notebook from my parents. The highlight of the break was spending 3 days out on the ranch... the weather was perfect, and although I didn't shoot anything, it was therapeutic to get out of civilization for a while.

Monday we jumped right back into things. They gave us an overview of the next year and a half... Phase II will be quite different than Phase I. First of all, we must pass every single aspect of the phase, and anything that we fail must be retaken. Also, it will be more fast-paced, there are no more labs, and most of our classes will be in the morning. We will get 3 months off for summer, which I plan to take advantage of in its entirety. As for classes, the next few months will be a block entitled "Intro to Disease". This will be followed by our neuroscience block, and then we take another NBME exam and are off for the summer. Next year will be broken into blocks according to the remaining organ systems. Our first lectures of the block were in immunology, which seems like it will be a cross between histo and biochem (a terrible combination). The first lecture was over innate defense mechanisms, followed by organs and cells of the immune system. Not very difficult, but who knows how long that will last...

This morning began with an intro to pediatrics, which consisted of how to examine and take down a history for pediatric patients. This was followed by a triple lecture in pathology... While it was pretty grueling to sit through a 3-hour lecture, the material itself was quite interesting. We basically went over all of the things in the environment that can kill you: everything from common poisons and physical trauma, to external factors such as temperature, electricity and radiation. The presentation was accompanied by tons of pictures that demonstrated various indicators of the cause of death, which was very cool. Tomorrow we start clinical skills again, although this time we will be focusing on performing physical examinations instead of taking patient histories.

You may have noticed that all my blog posts to this point have been named using a song title... As it is getting more difficult to find appropriate titles, this may be the last one that uses the convention unless I start using album titles as well... or maybe movie quotes. We shall see.