More exams, already?

I feel like I just had exams a few weeks ago, so it's very concerning that there are more exams in two weeks. Sigh. Once again, I feel as though I know nothing. But this is the story of medical school isn't it. Drinking from a firehose, whilst eating a mountain of pancakes. Or something.

Let us have some musings then:

I bought a pneumatic differential locker for the Jeep. Should be good as it will cut back on the wheel spin. I can't wait to go try out it out after exams. The best part is that it also comes with a compressor, so now I can let my tires down and then fill them back up again. Something I really needed to do on my last beach trip, when getting stuck in the sand was a serious issue.

I'm continuing to enjoy study. Learning about the endocrine and reproductive systems has been... interesting. It's always amazing how much you don't know about stuff. It's been good though, because all these hormones have important yet magical functions. So it has been nice to learn about their function. I've also learnt a lot more pathology, which scarily I still seem to be enjoying. I don't know where this medical degree is going to take me, but I feel as though surgery is definitely not it.

On the same line, I had a review with my PBL tutor this week. Basically you size yourself up over how you perform, and the tutor weighs in. Fortunately I have a tutor that cares this time, because the exercise can be quite pointless when the PBL tutor just sits with glassy eyes the whole time. Apparently I give the impression of a humorous person, who is also a deep thinker. A valuable contributor to the group dynamic, or something. In short, I have painted myself as a normal human being. Success!

As the tutor and I both came from Immuno research backgrounds, we had a bit of a chat about med and science stuff. But somehow I spun it around in to a "So what kind of a doctor do you see me as?" It turns out, I'm not seen as a GP and probably not a surgeon. I appear to enjoy thinking about things too much. Hmmm. This tutor has me figured out. It doesn't help that my PhD supervisor had told her to look out for me.

Another aspect of med school I am also enjoying is dissection. I have reached that level of detachment with our cadaver that only hours and hours of poking and prodding can achieve. My partner and I explore our way through the human body, with a poorly written handbook as our guide. Constantly wondering "what was that we just cut through? or "Is that normal anatomy, I swear the book didn't have one of those." Of course, when we're not hopelessly lost in the guts of an issue, we do enjoy a good deep and meaningful and a laugh about life and medicine. It's good times! However you still get those moments periodically, where you pause to be thankful for the opportunity to be doing this.

The only frustrating thing is that our guy has been under the knife a lot. The cadaver is missing a lot of different things, and there are a few mechanical things added as well. In terms of learning about surgery, it's fascinating. Unfortunately, for learning about things like normal anatomy, it can be very annoying. Structures that were meant to be at the back are floating free at the front. And the whole left side of the colon, appendix and more were missing. Which is a little sad, as it would have been good to see them in situ. Oh well, I'm sure I'll see my share of them in the future :) Apparently you have a 5% chance of needing your appendix out.

So, having talked about the deceased. I'll finish on a positive note. I now have a cute little nephew, James. Good job TnR! Such a cute little family :)