Exams

So I had my exams yesterday which weren't as bad as I was expecting. In the morning we had a multiple choice paper and a DIPSE paper which stands for something about data interpretation and short answer questions- not quite sure how they came up with the acronym DIPSE though. In the afternoon we had an anatomy spotter which was okay although I wrote 'arch of aorta' for several answers. We were reminded several times about remembering to identify if something was a left or a right- to the point I nearly wrote 'right heart' when obviously we only have one- and it's on the left of the body. Get results in about three weeks which is as long as I had to wait for the results of my finals!

Last night there was a big MedSoc night out,which I declined. Instead I watched "Sex and the City" and drank hot chocolate. It was great! Consequently I woke up this morning much more bight eyed and bushy tailed than some of my colleagues for another day of 9-5 lectures.

Study, study, study...

I'm studying hard for my formative exam tomorrow. Formative exams don't count for your final mark for the year (as opposed to summative) so it's a good opportunity to start revising for my summative exams in January. I've got a 4 hour multiple choice and short answer question exam in the morning- although I really hope it's not going to take four hours! In the afternoon I've got a Timed Practical Circuit (also known as an anatomy spotter) where there will be various specimens with a pin stuck in each one and we have to identify what the pin is pointing to. I'll let you know how I get on!

Weekly update

I took to my bed on Thursday as I felt awful but now I have made a full recovery!

Having a really busy week so far. On Monday morning we were introduced to our next 'case'- a man who had been stabbed in the neck. We then had group discussions of the things we would need to know to treat him such as the anatomy of blood vessels in the neck, how to stop the bleeding, how to treat somebody who has lost lots of blood and how to interpret various test results. In the afternoon we had a lecture on the embryology (the study of how the foetus develops) of the heart.

Yesterday morning I was in the dissecting room, looking at the interior of the heart and the upstairs drawing the outline of the heart on each other with eyeliner and listening to the various valves in different places. In the afternoon we had our first hospital visit to A&E where we met various staff members and observed a consultation. It was a Tuesday afternoon and not much was happening.

This morning we had lectures on how the nervous system controls the heart. This afternoon we met our pregnant lady for our family study project. We went to her house and chatted to her for about 1hour and 15mins. She was lovely and talked lots about her pregnancy and her previous pregnancy and birth. Lot's of information for my 3,000 word report. We're going for our second visit next week.

I'm ill! *sniff sniff*

I've got a cold. And they say doctors make the worst patients. I guess that makes medical students pretty bad too. I've got a runny nose and a sore thought and a cough and generally feel a bit rubbish. I haven't missed any lectures though! I had a practical this morning, doing ECGs. At the start the lecturer said "One of the groups gets to be the patient and needs to like down quietly for the duration of the class". I thought that this was fantastic and could have a little snooze and would still be marked as attending. Then she went on to say that this patient for the ECG had to be in perfect health and not be on any medications. As I'd started my day with a crumpet, a mug of hot ribeana and a cold and flu remedy containing paracetamol, phenylephrine and caffeine, this ruled me out. And I actively took part in the practical. I still feel pretty rotten though. I've had this afternoon off because it's Wednesday but it hasn't been too productive with my snotty nose!

I've been for tea now and had plenty of broccoli and carrots!

Bonfire night

This morning we had quite a complex lecture on embryology which is how a foetus develops and how the cells differentiate into tissues. Then we had a lecture on genetic abnormalities related to chromosome number. I made a big pan of chilli-con-carne at lunchtime and we're going to have that for tea when we come back form the fireworks display tonight. This afternoon we had a really boring lecture about public health. Public heath isn't necessarily a boring subject but the lecturer just gave us lists and lists of databases where we could find statistics about public health. And then read the lists to us. My friend actually fell asleep. I think I heard her snore a little bit too. It would be much better to have approached the topic with a question such as "where can I find out how many people smoke in Glasgow?" or "how many people died from heart disease in the UK in 2003?" and then explored the databases from there. But that's just my opinion.

Other tales of Monday

Also on Monday we had dissection and anatomy again. In anatomy we had to paint on the ribs and lungs and it was my turn to be the canvas. I was sat on the examination couch in my bra with my (thankfully) female anatomy partner and teacher prodding at my chest trying to identify my sixth left anterior intercostal space, (just under the underwire of M&S underwear if you want to find your own). All of the other pairs had at least one boy in them so although they didn't have the female anatomy to worry about, I think some of the boys may have got lots of paint matted into their chest hair. And they'll certainly be at a disadvantage after we do ECGs when we come to remove the sticky pads.

I also got a letter from one of the medico-legal societys you have to subscribe to. They are able to provide legal advice and defence if you make a medical error or somebody ties to sue you. Some words in medicine are very similar (such as the cardiac glycoside drugs digoxin and digitoxin) and therefore you would expect medics to be very careful of how they spelt things. However, in my first letter from this society they had inserted a letter 'e' randomly into my first name. I don't really think that gives off the correct impression, does it?!

Routes of Administration

I've left it ages again to write, I know, I know- I'll try to do better. I know some people are actually reading this now too! Thanks for your emails.

So on Monday we had our first pharmacology lecture. It was pretty similar to my first pharmacology lecture during my previous degree on routes of administration- basically all of the ways you can give a drug.

• orally as a tablet
• injections into veins, arteries, muscles or under the skin
• inhalers
• nasal sprays
• eye drops
• the sub-lingual (under-the-tongue) angina spray
• skin patches for nicotine
• various lotions and potions you can apply topically to the skin

(wouldn't have thought of all of those yourself, would you?!)

There is also however, rectal suppositories. Now, when I was at my previous university and Professor A mentioned the above there was a rather silly giggle which ripples at the room and he shouted "That is not funny. It is sometimes necessary to administer medication this way!". but because we were 18 and British, we find any mention of bums a bit silly. (Later in my degree I also remember Professor A, telling us that rectal administration of drugs is much more common in France). Anyway, in our medical school lecture, Dr. H had a picture of the various routes such as a man taking an aspirin with a glass of water or a child taking her inhaler for asthma. However, it wouldn't really be appropriate to see a patient enduring the last route of administration so he used a picture of an alley and exclaimed "up the back passage!". The variation in approach to the subject between Prof. A and Dr. H was very noteworthy.