This semester has been the most demanding yet! For me anyways. Last semester I had the ever time consuming anatomy, which I greatly enjoyed. However, this semester was all about writing, something that has never come easy for me. The last thing I ever want to do is write a 12 page paper (wrote three of them during this semester) or for one of our cases, a 26, single-spaced paper. The research (stayed up way too late for much of this) and understanding how statistical values are applied were daunting tasks as well. Though, I learned a great deal about medical articles.
Last, but not least the drives to retirement facilities. We would attend these required visits and perform an 'incomplete' physical and history on an elderly patient. The main challenges included their lack of mobility and their desire to talk...they would tell you the same family story three times before you could move on. Though, some of them were absolutely amazing! At 95 years old, walking, ability to read and teeth still intact. That is an accomplishment!
We have been given the task of "Long Term Care" patients. We have two elderly individuals that we over see on a monthly basis. It reminds me of home teaching. (For those of you not LDS, in our church we are assigned a couple of families to visit once a month. Our duty is to make sure they are doing well and receiving spiritual nourishment.) Anyways, we get to visit with them, check with their physical and occupational therapists and over all make sure they are doing well. It is a great way to follow up on any new prescriptions, such as medications, radiographs or even exercise. It gives us a sense of what the doctors are thinking.
One of my patients isn't all there mentally. A few of the other students have the same style of patient, so I wonder if the professors planned it this way. Anyways, upon my first visit she was busy eating lunch during which time I went through her medical record. Afterwards, I stepped into her room and asked her how lunch was. Her response was, "I was at work!"
"O, what do you do at work?"
"Well, don't ask me that..." She had been diagnosed with beginning stage of dementia. In fact, she had no idea who the man was standing next to her in a picture. The man happened to be her husband that had passed a few years ago.
This picture is just a token of how one should prepare for exams:
Finals! O, finals snuck up quick! Like most students, the thought of having to study 16 weeks worth of information within a day or two is just mind blowing! I do everything I can to procrastinate it knowing that it's going to come raging out like a ferocious lion!
The on campus libraries open their doors like a 7/11: 24/7 during the last couple weeks of the semester. You'll find students camping out in the study rooms and the parking lots crammed! Seriously, they bring sleeping bags!
Recap of my finals week: Thursday we finished up our last Pharmacology test, which covered the gastrointestinal drug therapies. We then had the weekend to study for the pharmacology final and finish up our research paper for biostats. This paper included research for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment for corneal abrasions. To be honest, pharmacology was one of the more difficult classes for me, but I was able to pull through and got the necessary grade.
We then had the rest of Monday and Tuesday to study for pathophysiology final for Wednesday. This was our last patho class ever! Crazy! We then had the rest of Wednesday to study for our Clinical medicine final on Thursday. This wasn't a typical final covering multiple fields of information, but it only covered the cardiovascular. The CV alone is rather intense. I was just greatful that my case study, the one that ended up being 26 pages was all about both right and left sided heart failure. Having previously studied the content helped, especially by this time into finals week where most of my ambition to study had been lost.
I made it! Two semesters are done! And now, I am enjoying a quick one week break with my family.
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