Prosection today!!!

What fun, early starts all week, it is so hard to get out of bed when it is still dark outside and cold!!! However the lectures this week, so far, have been interesting; we seem to be focusing on the nervous system- specialising in the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous systems; and then there is the associated pharmacology too (I quite like the order that they teach it- like that). This morning however, was a real treat- we had Prosection, which is not dissection. A cadaver is prepared and then a demonstrator (usually an 'SHO' -[no such thing now though] who wants to be a surgeon) takes you through it. No dissection, like most medical schools now, because cadavers are supprisingly hard to come by and an awful lot of money goes into their specialised storage and preperation... they are 'pickled' for at least 12 months - often 18, in an expensivce mixture of formaldehyde and xyelene (to prevent decay and protect against all sorts of other nasties)... then there is the refrigeration, and all sorts of other things too- lots more to it than a dead body though! The anatomy was totally different, blood vessels and nervous tissue were more superficial than I origionally thought, and the chest cavity (although deflated) was still smaller than I thought it would be!
last night, myself and a few friends went to a bar on Broad street, using some vouchers went to a pub and had steak and lots of beer, before departing to the cinema (with more vouchers) to see Harry Potter, what a total load of twaddle!!! (I am sure some may consider this a rather contravesial opinion, but really- come on!). Tonight is fencing, tomorrow is Medbar, then on Saturday it is the Christmas ball.... gosh I have been spending far too much, again, recently- it is a very easy thing to do!!!
Well I have project work to be getting on with.
Bye for now.
Duncan

Another Saturday, again?- so soon

Yes as you can imagine, this week has taken me by suppise again.... time just seems to be absolutely wizzing by. Quite amusingly, My mother called the other day- to say she couldn't call so much! The phone bill came through, and it had a bit of a nasty figure to it- I never even thought about it,it was alwasys just OK that I wasn't the one paying for the call, without realising that someone would be!
I have had a brilliant week (although I did find out about another exam on Monday... :( why so many?) Embryology is great, absoulutely fascinating. We are also doing a bit about anaesthesia too. Thusrday ws my Firm 1 placement again... This involved getting up at about 6am to get down to Kidderminster in time for surgery opening. There were consultations for an hour in the morning (observations ONLY) then in the afternoon we did 'house visits'. This week we were focusing on the factors affecting Dr/ patient relationships, with a focus on confidentiality, as well as health promotion- this is in sort of preperation for next session (in 10 days time) which will be the BIG project this year- on smoking and alcohol- where we will have to colect, analyse and present a lot of data! In the mean time the med school are keeping us busy- focusing on the spinal cord, I am doing one group presentation with three other people on the varying injuties suffered by the psinal cord and CNS, as well as all sorts of treatments, and the likley hood (very low) of total rehabilitation and healing. There is also an assessed presentation - my part in which is to research the development of the spine in a typical embryo, and then apply that tho the varying developments of babies with spina bifida- which has a veriety of forms.
Phew thats quite a lot to be getting on with for now, but we also have exams next week- Monday and Thursday... we were also given all sorts of terrifying information on the exams in January- we get back on the 9th, our first exam is on that very same day!
Thursday evening was AMAZING- Hockey initiations.... a whole bar was hired out for us, we had to go dressed as something beginning with the first letter of our name (I won't go into what I went as- it's ever so slightly embarrasing, but it went down VERY well) What fun, every one was ill... some of the fifth years' were incredibly drunk- fun to laugh at, plenty of funny photos!... Well as yesterday we had a 9am start on 8 hours of lectures I didn't go ou tlast night, I was 'taking it easy', i.e.: still recovering. But had a great night in with one of my flatmates, his girlfriend and a couple of girls from upstairs.
Any way- I have got quite a bit of reading to get done, so bye for now!
Have a great weekend.
Duncan

IBS Test

IBS- meaning Intro to Biomedical Sciences (not Irritable bowel syndrome)... We had a test on Tuesday- and fortunately I got an A... needless to say I am extremely pleased- as I was quite worried about it. There was another test on Thursday on Histology, but I won't get the results for that for ages yet. Anyway, this past week, again, has gone by very very quickly and unfortunately has been extremely stressful. On a good note, the person responsible for the death of my classmate- I am sure you may have heard it in the news... handed themselves in.
On a more positive note, 'Girls Aloud' turned on the Christmas lights in Birmingham this evening - a free performance (I use the word performance very loosly) followed by plenty of opportunities to get a few drinks in. Unfortunatley everywhere was busy because of the football.
We are getting more in deapth in the course now. We have started embryology (very complicated) but extremely fascinating. I have a couple of projects to get done, one on the development onf the CNS (central nervous system) and another is more of a care plan for a hypothetica patient with previous family history (PFHx) of heart disease... the latter being for my Firm 1 placement and the former being part of a PBL (problem based learning) assessment.
Any way.... I am absolutely shattered, only 4 weeks until Christmas, and that means not too long now until Medlink!!!
In the meantime, tonnes of anatomy to do...
Bye for now.
D

Bonfire Week

Sorry I haven't posted in a while- the last week has gone so quickly!
On Monday we had a great lecture on acute medicine, Tuesday we had some good behavioral science lectures and then hockey (of course!). Wednesday was ethics and law- followed by training for a job that I have. I managed to get a part time job as a 'student ambassador', just to help earn myself a bit of pocket money. So I had training on Wednesday until about 6.... Which meant I missed the hockey social, missed Medchoir and also another Halloween party! (I don't even really think I will have the time to give to this job anyway- and it is certainly feeling a bit stressful already). Thursday was excellent- again I journeyed to Kidderminster for my Firm1 placement. We had two hours of observing consultations and then the rest of the day was spent on all sorts of things- analising communication, and 'critically reading' articles etc... When I got back from that I went to fencing, this week we go to use the 'electrics'- very cool, and then when I got back to my flat there was a huge fireworks display and fair at the local park (about 2 minutes walk away). Friday was also good- a full day of lectures but the last one was a 'talk' given by a mother of four children (3 boys and 1 girl)... All three of her boys were born with haemophilia and eventually one died. The story was sad- but very educational, as it gave a very critical perspective on the importance of good communication and the effects of stigma. Then I went home for the weekend and had a brilliant time- bonfire party, catching up with friends, getting a load of washing done.... not having to cook... and I suppose it was quite nice to see my family too.
Any way- back to revision now because I have an exam on Tuesday, another on Thursday and three more between then and breaking up... so, until next time.
D