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mechanical_nocturne at 02:24pm on 18/02/2013
mechanical_nocturne at 02:24pm on 18/02/2013I have my first round of class tests coming up at the end of this month. I've been studying pretty heavily for my giant Step 1 Medical Licensing exam in June, which will be eight hours long and cover the first two years of medical school. x_x The class tests have kind of snuck up on me, so I'm having a mini panic attack and trying to refit my schedule so that I can switch back over to studying for class while still keeping up with my strict Step 1 study schedule.
Exams include a reproductive biology final, and my third pathology, pharmacology, and fundamentals of clinical medicine/problem-based learning tests. We'll see how those go. I'm most worried about pharmacology. That class has been cleaning the floor with me all year. I still have a chance of passing, but it's a slim one. I'm not sure what happens if I don't pass. I may have to retake second year over again, which...while that would be pretty terrible, at least the second year of medical school is better than first year was. If that's what it takes for me to become a doctor, well, there you go.
Tomorrow is my OSCE exam, which consists of taking on four patients with various complaints, taking a full history from them and then proceeding to do a focused physical exam based on what their complaints are, i.e. an abdominal exam for someone with stomach pain, a neurological exam for someone with headaches, etc. I'm pretty nervous, but I'm always nervous when it comes to practical tests where I'm seeing patients. We only have 25 minutes per patient, and from what I've heard from students that have taken it prior to me, time can run out pretty easily on the headache patient. Here's hoping I can stay focused and not forget any important parts of the physical exam or history.
Other than studying I haven't been up to much. x_x It's literally pretty much all I do these days. I'm still slowly working on my journal article for my neuroscience professor. That will be ready for publishing soon, which is exciting. Once it's published I'll feel like I've really earned a white coat for science, even if my medical school one will take me another two (three?) years. My professor tells me that I put out PhD level work, though, and that I'm far ahead of the other medical students that he has working for him, which strokes my ego pretty nicely. It also reassures me that if medical school doesn't work out, I do have a pretty strong chance of doing well in graduate school in the pursuit of a PhD. I've always sort of planned on taking my MD into the research realm anyhow, so this paper I'm working on is a foot in the door regardless of what career I eventually end up with.
My novel is currently on hold, especially with exams looming. I'd still like to get into the habit of drawing something daily, even if it's just rough pose practice. I've been mentally planning out the next comic page, so maybe I'll have that for you guys sometime.
For now, though, it's back to the books for me.
Exams include a reproductive biology final, and my third pathology, pharmacology, and fundamentals of clinical medicine/problem-based learning tests. We'll see how those go. I'm most worried about pharmacology. That class has been cleaning the floor with me all year. I still have a chance of passing, but it's a slim one. I'm not sure what happens if I don't pass. I may have to retake second year over again, which...while that would be pretty terrible, at least the second year of medical school is better than first year was. If that's what it takes for me to become a doctor, well, there you go.
Tomorrow is my OSCE exam, which consists of taking on four patients with various complaints, taking a full history from them and then proceeding to do a focused physical exam based on what their complaints are, i.e. an abdominal exam for someone with stomach pain, a neurological exam for someone with headaches, etc. I'm pretty nervous, but I'm always nervous when it comes to practical tests where I'm seeing patients. We only have 25 minutes per patient, and from what I've heard from students that have taken it prior to me, time can run out pretty easily on the headache patient. Here's hoping I can stay focused and not forget any important parts of the physical exam or history.
Other than studying I haven't been up to much. x_x It's literally pretty much all I do these days. I'm still slowly working on my journal article for my neuroscience professor. That will be ready for publishing soon, which is exciting. Once it's published I'll feel like I've really earned a white coat for science, even if my medical school one will take me another two (three?) years. My professor tells me that I put out PhD level work, though, and that I'm far ahead of the other medical students that he has working for him, which strokes my ego pretty nicely. It also reassures me that if medical school doesn't work out, I do have a pretty strong chance of doing well in graduate school in the pursuit of a PhD. I've always sort of planned on taking my MD into the research realm anyhow, so this paper I'm working on is a foot in the door regardless of what career I eventually end up with.
My novel is currently on hold, especially with exams looming. I'd still like to get into the habit of drawing something daily, even if it's just rough pose practice. I've been mentally planning out the next comic page, so maybe I'll have that for you guys sometime.
For now, though, it's back to the books for me.
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