When I first started this blog I was doing it to keep my friends from undergrad as well as my coworkers informed of my progress in Osteopathic Medical School. Well it seems that with the death of the death of the coverage of michael jackson I have mustered some free time to begin writing again. I'm sure this will make all 5 of my readers happy (if I haven't already been deleted that is) as I will continue my journey down the road which is now named "2nd year of Medical School."
But first, A recap.
I left you off last time with a mild discussion of what Part I of Neuro felt like, coupled with anatomy, Physical Diagnosis (DPR) and OMM lab. Let me continue from that point in time. Neuro I is by fat the hardest course in medical school. You begin to loathe the cranial nerves, you have to learn a brand new language to describe the brain which is not the same as the language you learn in anatomy. You spend hours making color coded drawings of where each nerve goes, of certain cross sections of the brain, and the quickest way to find peace in the middle east. Albeit an easy task.
After part I of neuro, Parts II and III seem just a little bit easier. Granted we still had tests every two weeks which never made life fun but we are resilient medical students and we made it through, Huzzah!
Aside- One major downfall to Neuro is that it occurs in winter on Long Island. Compared to western new york long islanders have it made. Still there is no reason for you in your range rover young lady to scream around the corner at 65mph and not assume you are going to go careening into the ditch and hit the guard rail all the while with Starbucks in your hand. Its called snow, it comes with this phenomenon called ice at points, these factors make driving difficult. Therefore, slow down just a bit so the way I go to school isn't obstructed by way more police and fire vehicles that are needed. It may also have helped to actually brush off your vehicle completely as many of your kind see fit to only clear the driver side window and drivers portion of the windshield before taking part in your commute. Its annoying, dangerous and makes me want to test the battering ram capabilities of a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE.
After neuro came heme/immuno. Like the cellular basics of blood? Like anemia? Clotting factors? Parasites and other organisms? Then this system is for you. Truth be told Heme/immuno seems like a godsend after neuro. It requires some memorization but overall concepts are stressed making it easy to transition from studying pathology to pharm. Its the IMMUNE system as well, you master the concepts here and you are golden in the realms of disease treatment because you know why and how the immune system is failing the keep the patient healthy. Some of my classmates hated heme. It's understandable as we have one more system to go before we see the light of our last full summer before the staunch reality of the 2nd to 3rd medical school endeavor.
Our final system was integument or derm. Here come the rashes, exanthematous eruptions, warts, STD manifestations, more unpleasant pustules and papules etc. etc. etc. If you are hellbent on dermatology as a career then I would go leaps and bounds over what work I put into this unit. We had two tests, one of which i studied for 1.5 weeks for the other 4 days, guess which test i scored higher on?* During the latter half of the system I developed some serious health issues which I will post later. Let's just say it wasn't at all fun to be me. Most of our days were spent BBQ-ing, celebrating some irrelevant national holiday or going to the beach. In truth most of us were relieved to have made it though the 1st year of medical school and mentally checked out so we could wind down and relax a bit while the weather became nice.
So there you have it, the rest of 1st year in a simple post. How'd I do?
Fundamentals -- Very Well
MSK - Fair
Neuro I,II,III -- Good, Well, Very Well
Heme/Immuno -- Very Well
Integument -- Good
Anatomy -- Very Well
OMM Lab --Very Well
All in all I was proud of myself for the effort I put forth. It's true I don't think Harvard or Yale will be calling my name as sometimes i chose to coast rather than gearing up on certain topics, but I wasn't very interested in the first year material as it was the basic science that lays the foundation for higher learning. 2nd year is more interesting due to more hands on lab time as well as learning Tx options to match with diseases. Needless to say I am hoping to blow everyone out of the water grades wise. If it wasn't for those stupid quizzes come june...
As for the summer between 1st and 2nd year I will address that in another post, but here's the menu for 2nd year
Cardiovascular and Respiratory Systems concurrently
Endocrine
Gastro-Intestinal
Genito-urinary and Reproductive concurrently
I'll be sure to let you know how it goes...
Whoop Whoop
Zoidberg
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