As you can see... we did get some pretty big flakes coming down. There was even enough sticking in some places for people to make snow men, have snow ball fights ect. Lisa said her kids were going crazy.
School news:
I am now 6 days away from being done with my pre-clinical medical education!!! Our last day of class was yesterday, and now I just have 4 more tests before I am done. This mini block we have studied genetics and ARTS (age related topics = geriatrics and pediatrics). With the block only being 2 weeks long, it has gone by very quickly.
Genetics is interesting to me, but there are about 90 disorders we have learned, and each has quite a bit of information to memorize (inheritance pattern, gene involved, chromosome location, type of mutation, presenting symptoms, treatment options and so on). And even though our genetics professor is very nice and good at teaching, previous students have said the exam is something to be feared.
The ARTs class has two of the best doctors we have had as teachers. The material is really just explaining how, in many ways, old people's bodies are very different than adults and kids are not just smaller adults.
Then there is a PPS exam covering the things we have learned about the basic physical exam (this is in addition to the clinical skills exam with standardized patients we already did). This test should be not too hard, but the problem is it covers hundreds of pages of reading in our text, so preparing for it in such a short amount of time will be tricky.
Then the last test is the dreaded end of basic science exam, or EBS. It is made by the NBME (national board of medical examiners), who also write the STEP board exams. It covers everything we have learned over the past 1.5 years, although we only have 2.5 days to study for it after our other exams are done! I have been preparing somewhat already, but it is a very different test than the kind that we are used to. It is 200 questions in 4 hours, and the format is all "clinical vignettes," or short clinical presentations followed by multiple choice questions. I guess that some students have trouble with time, because there is so much to read before you get to answer any questions. So although it is supposed to be a knowledge exam... it seems like test taking skills will play a big role, as they usually do.
Finally, I have received my schedule for rotations for the entire next year! We were able to submit 4 different choices for our schedules... and mine looks nothing like any of my submissions. They did it by a lottery system, so I must have been picked at the end. However, I am still fairly happy with what I got. As of right now, I have neurology in January, family medicine in February, OB/GYN for March and April, pediatrics for May and June, 2 weeks break, Surgery for July - September, and Internal Medicine for October - December. I am thinking about putting family medicine off for later and instead taking an elective for that month in pathology or radiology. I have heard from many older students that the family medicine shelf exam can be very hard if you have not had internal medicine yet, so doing an elective instead might be a good idea. Plus I might be interested in radiology, and path is a good review before the step.
Anyway, that is the scoop with me. I'll be home for Christmas... in one week!
