The New Whiteboard in the Lecture Hall

There are a lot of things I love about NJMS.

And then there are a lot of things... well, read this post and you tell me what emotion I should feel.


Behind this "whiteboard" you see pictured below was once the chalkboard in the front of the first-year lecture hall. One lovely February day, we arrived at class to find a brand-spanking-new whiteboard instead! Hurray!

Until you notice the wrinkles. WRINKLES. Is it whiteboard wallpaper? I was unaware until now that whiteboards even could be wrinkled.

Believe me, these pictures from my crap-tastic camera don't do the wrinkles justice. They can be seen clear as day from the very last row of the lecture hall.

I am sure that the school had the very best of intentions - I certainly like whiteboards way more than chalkboards (because the markers come in so many fun colors!) and there was probably some study done that showed why whiteboards are better for our education than chalkboards are.


But seriously, NJMS?

No, these wrinkles in our new whiteboard won't negatively affect my learning. But come on. It's like you're asking us to make fun of our own school, and no one wants to have to do that.

AMSA study break

Now that our first physio exam is finished, I have to correct my previous post. Friday tests are infinitely better than Monday tests. Especially if the forecast for the weekend is 70 and sunny with snow for Monday. Plus, our new unit starts today at 10am and I am SO not ready to jump right back into things again. A few days off (just about the length of a weekend) would be nice.

But since we knew most first years would be spending the weekend studying, AMSA hosted a study break for everyone on Saturday night. AMSA is the American Medical Student Association, and we have a local chapter here that pretty much focuses on trying to make life better for med students.

caffeinated med students are happy med students

Nationally, AMSA also focuses on empowering med students to take action on issues like affordable health care for all, global healthy equity, professional integrity, and diversity in medicine. Therefore our NJMS chapter also sponsors other student groups on campus like the Global Health Alliance and the Intro to Health Care Reform elective.

This study break was the first event of the year run by the first-years (as the second-years get ready to hibernate and study for their board exam), and I think it was a success! We provided free coffee, hot chocolate, tea, donuts, muffins, and pastries from Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks to anyone who came by.

the spread

the spread part II

It was a great way for everyone who'd been in hiding studying all weekend to actually have some human contact (always important), and it was a nice caffeine/sugar booster to make it through the rest of the night. Maybe not the most exciting Saturday night activity I've ever been to, but it was definitely a nice way to break up the studying (plus I really enjoyed the looks of all the other customers in Dunkin Donuts as Larry and I attempted to carry out 9 boxes of coffee/hot chocolate with 200 munchkins and 50+ donuts/muffins - not an easy task).

gettin' our sugar fix

AMSA first-year reps

Friday vs. Monday Exams

An argument as old as the five-day school week - is it better to have an exam on Friday and be able to enjoy the rest of the weekend, or is it better to push the same exam until Monday and use the weekend for extra study time?

Most of our anatomy exams were on Fridays, and I can attest to the fact that it is a wonderful feeling to have nothing hanging over your head for the weekend, knowing there's no work you should be doing (except getting ahead for the next unit, for those who are either super motivated or super self-loathing).

Our physiology exams will be on Mondays, which at the moment does not seem like such a bad thing. Especially because at this moment is when I would be taking our first physiology exam if they were on Fridays. Assuming you don't lose your mind first, extra days with nothing else going on definitely help in preparing adequately for exams (or better phrasing might be: not having those extra days with nothing else going on pretty much ensures that you won't be adequately prepared for exams).


The solution is obvious. Exams on Mondays so you have the weekend to study, but then we get Tuesday and Wednesday off to celebrate! I think that sounds both reasonable and completely feasible. Who's with me?

Too True

image from "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham
phdcomics.om

Med Student Stereotypes #1

When I recently re-read my very first blog post, I realized I talked about treating medical school as if it was a new, FUN experience like going abroad (in the blog, not in real life - otherwise I'd be a total weirdo). That way, the blog would seem to be about all the cool new things I see and people I meet in this strange new land called med school.

While I've talked a lot about the things I do here, I realized I haven't talked much about the types I've people I've met. So this will be the first of many posts on some of the stereotypes of the people you meet here in med school land.


Stereotype #1: Surprisingly enough, Med Students have NO attention span.
Physiology for the most part consists of two one-hour lectures per day. That does not sound like much, but you'd be surprised at how hard it is to sit and pay attention for those two hours. And professors know this about us. Yesterday we only had one mega lecture for an hour and a half, but the lecturer still gave us a 10-min break halfway through. Really? We can't sit and listen for more than an hour at a time? Apparently not.

We've never had anything scheduled for more than three hours, and if there ever was, believe you me, there would be lots of complaints (or at least lots of no-shows).


I'm not sure how our collective antsiness is going to work out when we graduate med school and actually have to work for like, 16 hours straight (More? Less? I'm sure the hours will change again by the time we get there) and are not offered a coffee break every hour on the hour. Do residencies have class representatives and student affairs that we're allowed to complain to when we're unhappy?




(picture from "A Cartoon Guide to Becoming A Doctor")

Things That Are Less Fun Than They May Seem

1. sinus infections

2. med school

3. sinus infections in med school



note: I don't actually know if I have a sinus infection since because of my schedule and the student health doctor's schedule, I don't actually have time to see someone until Thursday - so until then I'll just complain as if I have one to be on the safe side.

Surprise Weekend Post!

A skeleton walks into a bar and asks for a beer and a mop.