Do you see what I see?

Today in Anatomy we exposed and studied the eye and surrounding structures (nerves, arteries/veins, muscles, etc). It was pretty cool. In order to get to the eye though, we approached from behind and above the orbit (since the top of the skull and the brain have been removed). We had to use chisels and mallets to remove the bone behind the eye. This was really neat for me since I have interests in orthopedic surgery (the carpenters of the surgical world). I was surprised to see how much fat is deposited surrounding the eyeball filling the orbital space. A girl in my dissection group joked that, “Great! I’m even fat behind my eyes!”

As for our dissection groups, at the beginning of the year there were 6 of us in my group. Each assigned pair (three pair per table) rotates out of lab once a week so that there are never more that four students at a dissection table. My day to rotate out is Monday. My partner and I are in the lab on Tuesday and Thursday. Monday afternoons that I am not in the lab I do my clinical preceptorship (every other week anyways). Well, two people that began in my group have left school. One was my assigned partner and the other was Kim’s (the joking girl from above). That means that on Thursdays it is just Kim and me at our table. I kind of enjoy it since we each can work on a side and are not bumping into each other. I guess that I am selfish, but I like not having to share my dissection time.

Tomorrow night my wife and I have a date planned. We haven’t had a real date since our anniversary at the beginning of January. The kids are off to PaPa and LaLa’s house to spend the night, so we don’t have to rush home. I am REALLY looking forward to it! We don’t know what we’re doing, but something along the lines of dinner and a movie is probably not far from the plan. Then Saturday will be another long study day at the library. I would much rather be studying at home, but I am too easily distractible. I can always find things to do besides study, like clean bathrooms, change the oil, type a blog…… ;-)

Como se dice volunteer?

I went to the initial meeting of a new organization at school yesterday. It is the service portion of the surgery club (of which I am already a member). It is call the “Unite for Sight” club and is a local chapter of a national group. Their focus is on providing eye related services (exams, glasses, cataract treatment, etc) to underserved populations. That’s not really my thing (I mean eye stuff, not helping underserved populations), but in the meeting they discussed something pretty cool. There are short-term summer international internships available for interested students. These students go to a needy area and provide services. It gives a great opportunity to provide service, have a cool international experience, and possibly work on a language. I am thinking about looking into a 2-3 week program in Mexico. The main obstacle is funding the trip. However, many students solicit sponsorship from professional organizations and practitioners. If I decide to go on one of these excursions, I will need to do that.

For anyone reading this that may not know, I am a Mormon. As such, I had a chance to serve as a missionary for two years. I was called to serve in Tokyo Japan and was there from 1993 to 1995. As a result of that assignment, I was required to learn Japanese. Growing up, I always had a fascination with Japan and the language. When I submitted my paperwork for missionary consideration, I indicated that I had minor Japanese language training (I’d had a few private lessons from a Japanese friend’s dad). At that time, I did NOT want to go to a Spanish speaking mission. Well, I was called to Japan and I loved it! Don’t get me wrong though, I loved Japan and would not trade the experiences that I had there for anything, but living in Arizona, sometimes I wish that I had learned Spanish. It’d be more useful to me now. I did take Spanish in high school and still remember quite a bit of it. I also have an elective available this next quarter at school that I think I will fill with a Spanish class. Maybe if I do that, and I go on a summer Internship, I will be able to speak well enough to consider Spanish an asset.

Tendremos que esperar y ver!

Heads up

So today was kind of cool. In the anatomy lab we studied the brain and cranium. The brain is actually larger that I expected, but I’m not sure why I thought that it’d be smaller. It’s the first time I’ve ever held a human brain. It is truly amazing how everything in the body is controlled by a 5 lb mass of tubes. Anyways, it was made even more interesting because my cadaver had a brain tumor. He was a smoker and had both lung and brain cancer as a result. When we were dissecting the lungs last quarter, he had a bunch of tumors and adhesions there, too. It is hard for me to understand how anyone (especially in healthcare) can smoke. But even at school, I see a few people lighting up. There were also some school photographers in the lab to take pictures for advertising brochures. The anatomy professor is VERY mindful of showing respect in the lab, so she will preview all of the photos taken to ensure that none of the cadavers are shown, only students. If anyone ever doubted the respect and gratitude shown to those who allow us to learn from them, they should meet her. She speaks of the lab as sacred and comes down HARD if anyone is ever disrespectful.

Well, I’m off to study. Tonight it’s Biochemistry and Anatomy. Fun, fun, fun!

I hate it when that happens!

You’d think that I’d be a better judge of examination performance than I am, considering I’ve taken a few in my days. But, I am not. Take Christmas for example. We had a major Anatomy and Histology exam the day before Christmas break. I studied until I was cross-eyed and still felt shaky about the material. Friday came and I took my exams (All 4 hours of them). I left feeling like my head had been run up and down a cheese grater. Then it was off to break. About Wednesday (Christmas Eve Day) I went to view my grades online and lo and behold…Solid A’s.

Back to today. I was up at 4:00 this morning to review for the exam. I knew the material forwards and backwards. Took the exam, reviewed my answers, and walked out confident. I felt like there were 1 or 2 that I may have missed, but all in all I felt great. Historically, if I felt great about an exam, I misinterpreted something. I went online to get my grades this afternoon and wouldn’t you know it…B. Granted, it is a good B, but not what I was expecting. I hate it when that happens.

What can I do but get ready for the next one coming Monday?

One weekend every other week we go to a Physician Preceptor. My day is Monday so I went today. Interestingly, my preceptor is my wife’s cousin. We do it in order to get clinical experience before beginning rotations our 3^rd and 4^th years. Ideally, we are supposed to be honing our History and Physical skills. I lucked out. His office is 15 minutes from my house. Some students have to drive an hour or so each way. It’s kind of a catch 22. Our clinical skills are weak so we go to preceptors. However, because our clinical skills are weak, we don’t do much. Therefore our clinical skills stay weak. It gets a bit frustrating, but honestly, how much can we really do yet? Then again, most of his patients are “patient education” cases where he is interpreting test results, diabetes consultations, and the like. Aside from taking vitals, there’s not a ton for me to do. I just hang around, somewhat voyeuristically. Still, it’s nice to interact with patients. After all, that’s why I am going into medicine.