spelling errors?

This is what popped up on my screen yesterday when I opened my typed outline of our lectures.


No, I am not an exceptionally awful typist. Microsoft Word just doesn't recognize any of the words from our lectures. Come onnnnn, hyperphosphaturia is totally a real word!!

Here are some screen shots from another document (also an outline of lectures) that I guess was (probably just barely) under the limit for number of spelling errors to display.




If cortisol is wrong, I don't want to be right.

MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE

Yesterday in the middle of our third physiology lecture of the day, a man in an orange safety vest came in, spoke to the professor briefly and left. The professor confusedly announced to the class something to the effect of, "I have no idea what that was about, but apparently we don't have to leave." Everyone was like whatttttt is she talking about?

Now fast forward about five minutes, and the fire alarm starts going off. Because we're all such smart med students, we figured out what happened - the man was warning her that a fire alarm was about to go off, but that we did not have to respond to it.

I'm sure you all remember Austin Powers, and this scene in particular (and if you don't, I'm sorry, why are we friends?)



Because that is what lecture felt like for about 15 minutes.

This is what our fire alarms sound like:
WeeeeeeOOOOWeeeeeeOOO MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE, THERE IS A FIRE IN THE BUILDING, PLEASE LEAVE IMMEDIATELY WeeeeeOOOOOWeeeeeOOO :::pause::: WeeeeeOOOOWeeeeeOOOO MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE, THERE IS A FIRE IN THE BUILDING, etc, etc.



So at every pause, the professor would start lecturing again, and about five words in, the alarm would go off again:

"So if you follow the pathway-" MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE

"If you follow the pathway to the-" WeeeeeeOOOOOWeeeeeOOOOO

"Follow the pathway to the hypothal-" MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE



Finally she gave up on trying to fit the lecture into the pauses, and just decided to continue with it OVER the fire alarm.

• It's hard to pay attention to even a single lecture about steroid hormone synthesis
• It's even harder to pay attention to the third lecture in a row about hormones
• It's that much harder to pay attention when the lecture is given in a tough accent to understand (although this was not even close to the toughest accent we've had - more on that another time)
• And then you add in a background fire alarm....

Well, all I can say is I did my best.

Procrastination Part II

Exam is over - hurray! But I'm still here, procrastinating. Cue reader question: What could I possible have to do just a few hours after an exam?

Well, since you ask, I'll tell you.


#1 - Because our professors pushed our exam to today instead of yesterday (I guess the Tuesday after spring break is better than the Monday, right?), we had our first lecture for the next unit immediately following the exam (literally, immediately - ok not literally, we did have a 10 minute break). So in case you were worried that I might have a single afternoon free from studying (or guilt about not studying) - worry no more, that problem is solved.


#2 - I really, really, REALLY need to clean my room. Don't believe me? Here's a picture I just took of the floor next to my bed.


It's like a game from Highlights magazine. See if you can find:

-bathing suit
-sneakers from that one time last week I thought maybe I would go to the gym
-physio book for easy access
-printer paper for practice problems
-tuning fork (I have absolutely no idea why it is in such a prominent location in the middle of my floor)
-a regular old book for pleasure which I somehow thought I would have time to read during school which I always take out to read, and which always ends up on the floor instead
-all the various clothes that I've worn for the past week (bonus points if you find the purple sock!) that have now taken up what looks like permanent residence on my floor.

But hey, why clean your dirty room when you can just take a picture of it and post it on the internet for the whole world to see what a slob you are??


#3 - I should probably be out doing something fun since we did just finish an exam after all. I was totally called out on today for not having enough "class love" because I'm not going out with people to Hoboken tonight. For those in my class that actually read this, I DO love you (especially because you read my blog). But this week happens to bring me visitors from faraway exotic lands (China and St. Louis), and post-exam revelries this time around belong to them. Next exam, Hoboken I promise!

Catch-Up (Part 1 of 2)

Thought I would do a quick little catch-up for everyone on what we're learning these days in a 2-day post.

So as you all (maybe) know, the block of classes we're in right now is Physiology with Physical Exam.

Physiology is the "biological study of the functions of the living organisms and their parts." Basically, the study of how we work. Physiology may refer to all living organisms, but we're pretty much focusing on human beings (pretty much = 100%). The class is split into three sections with an exam after each. The first section was cell physiology and the respiratory system. Our second section, which we are in right now, is the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. And last will be renal and endocrinology.


The class is mostly lectures with a couple labs thrown in there and one TBL each week. As you all probably remember from Anatomy, TBL stands for Team-Based Learning, and you take an individual quiz on a set of information, and then take that same quiz again with your team.

Because physiology involves actual problem-solving, having TBLs makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE than they did in Anatomy, because we actually reason through the problems together which is very helpful for learning, as opposed to Anatomy, where all the information was just regurgitated from the textbook.

And the labs were actually pretty fun (don't judge - some people have different definitions of fun, ok?). The first was during the respiratory unit, and we did Pulmonary Function Tests on each other (where you breathe into a tube, and a machine measures how much air you can get into your lungs, how fast you can expire, stuff like that). The second lab was in the cardiovascular unit, and we all got to do an EKG. Here's mine:


Normal! Yay! I really like this block because in physical exam or physio labs, I feel like I'm just playing doctor the whole time, and in physiology, I feel like I'm finally starting to actually understand things about the way our bodies work. A scary thought though - we learn the entire heart in 2 weeks, and now I guess it's assumed that we know everything about the healthy heart. And I'm not quite sure that's true.

Physiology Shmysiology

Math in med school? Ew. And physics? I did not think I would ever need to use that again. I don't know how I feel about this whole physiology nonsense. Anatomy was pure memorization - no previous skillz really necessary (unless you've taken anatomy before, cheaters). With physiology you actually have to thiiiink. Terrible. Who really wants to use their brain?

But on the positive side, class now starts at 10 every day - no more 8 am dissection labs, woohoo! I do my best to focus on the important things in life...


And I can't wait for the Physical Exam class to start on Monday - everyone I'm friends with, prepare to be practiced on.