Done at last!

Well, that's it, my first semester of med school finished this morning. I honestly don't think I"ve ever worked as hard in my whole life as I did this past week. I was logging 9-12 hours of studying per day...hopefully it paid off. It's surprising how many things I still didn't know for those finals (and I'd swear a lot of them weren't in the notes at all either...hmmm). Still, I feel pretty good (especially about the exam today...I had to memorize a lot of formulas for that sucker, but I think I nailed all the equations).

Now I'm heading home to the Island, for a week of well-deserved (trust me) rest. Back in Van on the 29th to pack/clean/move.

Merry Christmas all!

I'm So Ronery...

Hmmm...well, anatomy and histo are yesterday's news, over and done with, history, (insert random cliche here). They went pretty well actually, especially the anatomy bellringer...I walked out of that one feeling like I really had some idea of what the inside of a human body looks like (which was a pleasant and unexpected sensation). Histo felt pretty good too, but a lot of the two part questions were things I was 90% sure of, and you've gotta get both parts right to get the mark, so I could be a little screwed there. Still, I'd be very surprised if I didn't pass it at least.

Next up is my Prin A/B exam, which covers an amazing amount of material. Just today I went through the endocrine system, the autonomic nervous system (and a ton of drugs which can affect it), smooth muscle, homeostasis (focus on blood pressure and temperature), anticancer pharmacology, Diabetes, general metabolism (glycolysis, TCA cycle, ETC, gluconeogenesis, EtOH metabolism and how it affects other pathways, lipolysis, starvation), glucose regulation, second messenger systems and receptor classes. Tomorrow is skeletal muscle and nerves, plus all the genetics, embryology, neoplasia, and cell bio stuff from the first midterm. The exam is on the 20th, but my studying has been pretty good (9 hours today, 12.5 yesterday), so I think I'll get it all done. I'm more worried about Prin C/family practice (on the 22nd)...that's all pharmacology, renal stuff, and immunology...with lots of equations. Things I'm a little more shaky on. But that's something to worry about later.

I've got the place to myself (well, except for a kitten with a fetish for used tea bags...he keeps fishing them out of the garbage an leaving them on the floor, where I invariably step on them in bare feet. Not pleasant.), as Jon left on Friday for Nova Scotia. He's finally spending Christmas with his family (he missed out last year), which is great for him and for them, but not so good for me. I am missing him pretty badly...though I guess it's good to have fewer distractions around here. Still...I'd sacrifice a few points off my final mark to have him around. At least he has been good about calling...

All right, enough of a study break, gotta get another review in before bed!

The Art of Avoidance

Well, my first two exams are tomorrow: Anatomy and Histology. I dunno what it is, but I really haven't been able to get much momentum up as far as studying for these suckers goes. I think I've been over stuff throughout the semester just enough that I have this false sense of security. I know everything on a very superficial level, and so I can convince myself that I don't REALLY need to do more. Thus, it's hard to get stressed about it. Unfortunately, stress is one of my big motivators. As it stands, I've been lounging around eating cookies all day with little to show for it.

Which is not to say I haven't been over everything and re-written my notes a couple of times and gone through the slides and videos. I just am not as far along as I should be, considering I'm less than 24 hours away from these tests. Ah well...maybe if I do horribly, I'll be willing to work more for my next set of exams on the 20th.

Anyways, back to highlighting. Guess I'll be falling asleep on my histo texts tonight.

Politics...bah.

Well, I guess I'm living in the right country...sort of....

You are a Social Liberal (70% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (16% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

When it All Goes Wrong Again...

Well, great. I have one week of class left. One week. Plus four days. Before my first two exams. From hell. I am going to die! Plus I have a big paper due next Wednesday, a presentation to give on Friday, 3 weeks backlog of notes to type up, and copious amounts of packing a cleaning to do before Jon heads home on the 16th. I am slightly stressed out. I am, however, becoming remarkably adept at not allowing myself to think about all this stuff. Yay me!

Seriously, Jon and I have to move him to Anand's place, clean, and move me to Victoria in two days. He gets back from Nova Scotia on the 30th, and we have to be out of our place by 1 pm on the 31st. I think I'll have to cut my stay at home a little short so I can get back out here in time to get all the stuff done that needs to get done. So...home on the 22 or 23...back here on the 27 or maybe 28. Happy Holidays everyone!

Bah, I'm overtired and thus bitchy. Well, time for class again.