I'm in the midst of reviewing 107 physiology lectures for our cumulative final Monday morning but I needed a break to give a shout out to my amazing classmates.
I really lucked out with my decision to go to BCMS. I've friends at other schools who talk about the competition and the frustration of the ubiquitous gunners. Here, we have a contest for 'resource of the week'. It's such a collaborative environment. There is competition but it's mostly as a class trying to beat the performance that other years had on exams. (we rocked the immuno midterm- our average was 7 points higher that the '15 class).
Pre-exam weekends always show a flurry of activity on our facebook page with post after post of practice exams, summaries, review material from upperclassmen or other schools, people posting info garnered from office hours. It's pretty amazing how so many of my classmates are so generous with their discoveries.
For anyone applying to medical school, a non-curved grade structure really makes a HUGE difference in the learning environment. I remember when I was looking at schools, it fell lower on the totem pole of priorities. Now I wouldn't trade it for a full scholarship to JH.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
VA tape
BCMS arranges lots of rotations at the nearby VA hospital so we had to go thru the federal background check, fingerprinting etc for access. It was a pain in the *#a. Last year, I had 5 ppd skin tests, 3 background checks (in which I needed to list ALL of my lifetime addresses & local (to said addresses) people to vouch for my existence there, and two fingerprinting sessions. The extent of my civil disobedience consists of 3 parking tickets that I accumulated a decade ago by parking in the staff lot at a local community college. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if I were a naughtier person.
I've lived in 7 states. I had to dig through old letters that I saved to find all my former addresses (15 of them that I could recall- I'm sure I missed one or two..). Then I had to supply references for a) places that I had lived and b) places that I had worked. I actually used myself as a reference a couple of times. I laughed when I received the letters "Can you confirm that 'Narrow Room' was a resident here between August 1997 and July 1998?". Why yes, yes I can.
Ironically, the med students who struggled more than me with this insane process were the few who were actually current members of the armed services (and already had partial clearance). The VA required additional paperwork from them. Insane.
But now I have a med school ID AND an official "get thru security at the airport quickly" government ID. I'm so cool.
But in reflection, the VA sat on our application paperwork for 4 months. I received an email in December that all was in order for my background check. The class didn't get notification until last week, though, that all was in order with our application and we could go to the HR office to press our fingers to the confirmation screen and pose for our (dashing) ID photos.
Then, two days after this notification, BCMS sent out an email that the background check/fingerprinting for the VA expired that weekend, leaving us just 2 days to get to HR before we would have to start the process all over.
I waited in line (the day before an exam, mind you) for three hours. Apparently, all the VAs in the US operate on two servers so the backup during busy times can be insane. Several of my fellow students did end up having to be re-fingerprinted thus delaying their "go straight thru security cards" by 3 months.
Now I ask: "Why did they have us submit our application, background check and fingerprint us on the same day leaving only 4 days for the processing completion?" Wouldn't it have made more sense to process the application (the rate determining step), then do the background check?
And this is for (useless MS1s). I can only assume that all new VA staff, those who can actually help the backlog of over a million veterans, struggle with the same stupid delays.
I'm not even going to start on the old Commodore computers they still use....
I've lived in 7 states. I had to dig through old letters that I saved to find all my former addresses (15 of them that I could recall- I'm sure I missed one or two..). Then I had to supply references for a) places that I had lived and b) places that I had worked. I actually used myself as a reference a couple of times. I laughed when I received the letters "Can you confirm that 'Narrow Room' was a resident here between August 1997 and July 1998?". Why yes, yes I can.
Ironically, the med students who struggled more than me with this insane process were the few who were actually current members of the armed services (and already had partial clearance). The VA required additional paperwork from them. Insane.
But now I have a med school ID AND an official "get thru security at the airport quickly" government ID. I'm so cool.
But in reflection, the VA sat on our application paperwork for 4 months. I received an email in December that all was in order for my background check. The class didn't get notification until last week, though, that all was in order with our application and we could go to the HR office to press our fingers to the confirmation screen and pose for our (dashing) ID photos.
Then, two days after this notification, BCMS sent out an email that the background check/fingerprinting for the VA expired that weekend, leaving us just 2 days to get to HR before we would have to start the process all over.
I waited in line (the day before an exam, mind you) for three hours. Apparently, all the VAs in the US operate on two servers so the backup during busy times can be insane. Several of my fellow students did end up having to be re-fingerprinted thus delaying their "go straight thru security cards" by 3 months.
Now I ask: "Why did they have us submit our application, background check and fingerprint us on the same day leaving only 4 days for the processing completion?" Wouldn't it have made more sense to process the application (the rate determining step), then do the background check?
And this is for (useless MS1s). I can only assume that all new VA staff, those who can actually help the backlog of over a million veterans, struggle with the same stupid delays.
I'm not even going to start on the old Commodore computers they still use....
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Procrastination
I have 4 exams, 2 papers, an OSCE and about 20 hours of online learning modules to complete in the next two weeks.
So I thought it a brilliant time to glue rocks to my table. It was a $10 craigslist stop-gap purchase that I can't afford to replace. I actually really like how it turned out. I'll add another coat of white paint tomorrow.
Oh- and my physio prof calls Asians "Orientals". Ack!
And I've realized that I'm an addict and a hoarder but that's tomorrow's procrastination post....
BEFORE:
AFTER:
So I thought it a brilliant time to glue rocks to my table. It was a $10 craigslist stop-gap purchase that I can't afford to replace. I actually really like how it turned out. I'll add another coat of white paint tomorrow.
Oh- and my physio prof calls Asians "Orientals". Ack!
And I've realized that I'm an addict and a hoarder but that's tomorrow's procrastination post....
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I can't paint the wall- so I tacked some ribbon to add color but I did it mostly because I mistakenly hung the Rorschach blots off center. Oops.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Library Living and Immunology Tempers
Immunology Tempers:
Our class schedule was packed this week; they decided to cram a full week into 4 days to give us Friday off for the holiday. Nobody is actually taking the day 'off'. We're just independently studying.
We also had several small group study sessions. During one, my group was confused about some concepts and we asked the facilitator for clarification. He stood at the opposite end of the table and went off on a tangent, often stopping mid-sentence for several long moments. The group was silent, waiting for him to make his point, hoping that anything he said would be useful to our discussion. After a pause that went on, and on, and on, his eyes flared and he burst out in irritation: "WHAT!? you want me to give you the answers?!" I thought he was going to turn and twist someone's head off in rage. He didn't even talk about the issue at hand. We were discussing an ascites problem and he was going on about hormones and birth control. It was bizarre.
We averted our eyes and lowered our heads to our assignment, waiting until he walked away before whispering about how weird it was. We never did come up with the right answer.
Library Living:
When I first moved to Seattle, it took 6 months for me to get around to buying furniture. I had been sleeping on an air mattress and my belongings were still in boxes though I was doing this underneath the window of an amazing view. I lived next door to Fisher Plaza (where the helicopter lands in the opening credits of Grey's Anatomy). The Space Needle and Puget Sound were RIGHT THERE. Amazing.
I had spent the previous years living a nomadic life, working seasonally in different national parks. I learned to travel lightly.
Anyhow, my mom decided to come out to spend Christmas with me so I caved and went out to buy stuff to put my stuff on.
Over the years, I slowly began to appreciate the joy of nesting. Then, I had to move cross country (again) at a moment's notice. Circumstances required that I essentially live out of a suitcase for a couple of years. I did eventually settle into a postage stamp that was labeled a studio (seriously: 220sq ft) but I knew that I would be relocating within months for school, ergo, no nesting.
Now, I'm in a lovely studio (it's 533 sq feet- palatial!) and I know that I'll be here for a minimum of 4 years, maybe even 8 (depending on residency placement). I've been nesting galore. I've also become addicted to websites like Apartment Therapy and Houzz- always looking for new ideas to improve my home.
Today, Apartment Therapy had a post about getting rid of books. Laugh. I've written before about my feelings on the subject. I do believe that the little critters spore when we're not looking (and eat our socks). When I moved out here last summer, I came with, maybe, 300 volumes and the collection has not grown at the rate it had in the past, I've been busy with other things...
Nonetheless, it has grown beyond the capacity of the built-in bookshelves.
On the shelves, I've kept (mostly) fiction to the left of the mantel, non fiction to the right.
Some of the mini-collections that have broken off are practical.
Within reach while I'm at my desk, I've piled my school books on the radiator. Don't worry, I've turned the radiator off. My apartment is small, landlords are generous with the heat, so the radiator in the bathroom is sufficient to heat the place.
The rest of the groupings, I've arranged to amuse myself- like when I hung one of my Rorschach inkblots upside down. No one else ever notices but it makes me laugh.
On my desk, I've gathered my 'rebel books'. Starting off with the Widow Clicquot- a woman who saved the champagne industry (yay- love champagne) back when women couldn't do much of anything. When I get my biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine back, it goes here. I also have a history of 'bad girls', Lisa Randall's (the awesome physicist) warped passages, A history of castrated singers, the philosophy of John S. Mill (total feminist) and Martin Page's "How I became Stupid" to remind myself not to take life so seriously. Oh and a new Bollywood movie- I'll watch it in stages at my desk over the next few weeks.
The rest of the 'vignettes' are basically book pairings that make me chuckle.
Our class schedule was packed this week; they decided to cram a full week into 4 days to give us Friday off for the holiday. Nobody is actually taking the day 'off'. We're just independently studying.
We also had several small group study sessions. During one, my group was confused about some concepts and we asked the facilitator for clarification. He stood at the opposite end of the table and went off on a tangent, often stopping mid-sentence for several long moments. The group was silent, waiting for him to make his point, hoping that anything he said would be useful to our discussion. After a pause that went on, and on, and on, his eyes flared and he burst out in irritation: "WHAT!? you want me to give you the answers?!" I thought he was going to turn and twist someone's head off in rage. He didn't even talk about the issue at hand. We were discussing an ascites problem and he was going on about hormones and birth control. It was bizarre.
We averted our eyes and lowered our heads to our assignment, waiting until he walked away before whispering about how weird it was. We never did come up with the right answer.
Library Living:
When I first moved to Seattle, it took 6 months for me to get around to buying furniture. I had been sleeping on an air mattress and my belongings were still in boxes though I was doing this underneath the window of an amazing view. I lived next door to Fisher Plaza (where the helicopter lands in the opening credits of Grey's Anatomy). The Space Needle and Puget Sound were RIGHT THERE. Amazing.
I had spent the previous years living a nomadic life, working seasonally in different national parks. I learned to travel lightly.
Anyhow, my mom decided to come out to spend Christmas with me so I caved and went out to buy stuff to put my stuff on.
Over the years, I slowly began to appreciate the joy of nesting. Then, I had to move cross country (again) at a moment's notice. Circumstances required that I essentially live out of a suitcase for a couple of years. I did eventually settle into a postage stamp that was labeled a studio (seriously: 220sq ft) but I knew that I would be relocating within months for school, ergo, no nesting.
Now, I'm in a lovely studio (it's 533 sq feet- palatial!) and I know that I'll be here for a minimum of 4 years, maybe even 8 (depending on residency placement). I've been nesting galore. I've also become addicted to websites like Apartment Therapy and Houzz- always looking for new ideas to improve my home.
Today, Apartment Therapy had a post about getting rid of books. Laugh. I've written before about my feelings on the subject. I do believe that the little critters spore when we're not looking (and eat our socks). When I moved out here last summer, I came with, maybe, 300 volumes and the collection has not grown at the rate it had in the past, I've been busy with other things...
Nonetheless, it has grown beyond the capacity of the built-in bookshelves.
Some of the mini-collections that have broken off are practical.
On this table are those books that I most often lend out.
On my nightstand are the books currently on my list to read- well, except for the Viet Nam tour guide. I flip thru that when I want to escape. I'll pretend I'm back skinny-dipping in a secluded cove in Halong bay with the phosphorescent plankton. "sigh".
The rest of the groupings, I've arranged to amuse myself- like when I hung one of my Rorschach inkblots upside down. No one else ever notices but it makes me laugh.
The rest of the 'vignettes' are basically book pairings that make me chuckle.
A history of the Amish: A history of the Tramp in America
Freiden's "Feminine Mystique": Michel Foucault
Hitchen's Mother Teresa espose: A history of Courtesans
An American Indian History of Wounded Knee: a book of Kashmiri sayings
Am I outing myself as a complete nerd?
Well, I started this post to show the ways that I've accommodated my library growth then veered onto a tangent so I guess poking fun at my facilitator just might break some of my windows (stones, glass houses blah blah.)
Oh: here's my bathroom addition: instead of studying last night, I made pompoms!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Bathroom Dreaming....
So I've been tackling one 'nesting project' a week. School's much
much better btw.. I adore physiology; everything (well, mostly) is
really interesting. We've just started immunology too. Booyaah!
Anyway, back to my weekly projects: this past month, I've been focusing on the bathroom. I've always dreamed (hence the post title) of a spa tub with a tropical view. I know, I know.. Winter rental in Chicago? A room that I can't paint or make other major changes? I might as well shoot for a moon spa with a great view of the earth. But I just finished this morning's goal of adding stones along the tub and am thrilled with the result.
The bathroom isn't finished. I found an old mirror at a thrift store and plan on gluing broken bits of granite tile and leftover stones and 'frosting' the remainder with some blue spray paint to imitate a waterfall. I'll place it behind the planter. I hope that I can keep enough of the reflective properties to increase natural light in that corner but disguise them so I don't have to stare at myself naked in the shower. I'm allowing myself a couple of weeks to finish that project. But here's the bathroom as is for now.
Updated Photographs
Here's are the links to the pictorial evolution this past year of my bedroom & living room:
north living room & sunroom
south living room
west living room
east living room
east bedroom
west bedroom
Anyway, back to my weekly projects: this past month, I've been focusing on the bathroom. I've always dreamed (hence the post title) of a spa tub with a tropical view. I know, I know.. Winter rental in Chicago? A room that I can't paint or make other major changes? I might as well shoot for a moon spa with a great view of the earth. But I just finished this morning's goal of adding stones along the tub and am thrilled with the result.
The bathroom isn't finished. I found an old mirror at a thrift store and plan on gluing broken bits of granite tile and leftover stones and 'frosting' the remainder with some blue spray paint to imitate a waterfall. I'll place it behind the planter. I hope that I can keep enough of the reflective properties to increase natural light in that corner but disguise them so I don't have to stare at myself naked in the shower. I'm allowing myself a couple of weeks to finish that project. But here's the bathroom as is for now.
I brought the conical hat and the print back from Viet Nam.
Orchids were $6.99 at Trader Joes. I spent $15.00 for
the black stones and found the wood border (I think it is scrap from
the apartment building cabinetry) in the basement. I glued a couple of
slivers of sponge to the bottom to give it traction. That and the weight
of the stones keep it firmly in place.
The
planter and plants were $21.00 from Kmart. I used blue electrical tape
on the pot the Dracaena came in. Ceramic pots are expensive!
I'll use tiles like these for the 'waterfall' thingamajig. They're only 1.50 each at Home Depot!
The vases were made by a friend in upstate NY and the fish are actually
ceramic knobs from the Mackenzie-Childs barn sale (years ago).
This was a baby spider plant from my Gram's house and she made the hummingbird out of a pine cone.
Well, there you have it. Now try to imagine it with a fabulous (laugh) waterfall-mirror thing behind the planter.
Cheers.
Updated Photographs
Here's are the links to the pictorial evolution this past year of my bedroom & living room:
north living room & sunroom
south living room
west living room
east living room
east bedroom
west bedroom
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Sucky Happiness
It's been some time since I've been here!
I stumbled and tripped and eventually failed anatomy by 3 (three!!!!) points. Out of 550. That SUCKED. SUCKED. SUCKED. It still sucks. I'll need to remediate over the summer. Sucky.
I've spoken with a dean of student affairs and have contacted our learning center peeps for advice but haven't told anyone else (like family). I'm too embarrassed.
It was so frustrating; I honored every other course and even scored perfectly on the radiology final. I'm not stupid. I'm not. I swear. Three points!
I'm so happy to be in physiology. It's amazing how much easier it is for me to study. It's like a never-ending fountain of really cool, useful information. I can seriously lose hours chasing down information...
This semester is also bunches less isolating than last. I've finally found a small group of like-minded dedicated, irreverent and curious study partners. One of our assignments for the 'doctoring' course was to take a personality test. It turns out everyone in my study group is an INTJ. We're basically rational curious and pedantic people who don't do feelings. It's an awesome experience to meet up after lecture to argue with people about the role, if any, that plasma skimming has in the delineation of pulmonary zones. (you know... zones 1-3 and their ventilation efficiency). It reminds me of my high school physics class and the arguments of black hole gravitational forces that I'd have with my friends while playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (I was always a tree-climbing elf- FYI)... completely irrelevant to the required class material but so interesting...
So.. despite my sucky sucky nightmare of having to repeat anatomy... life is pretty awesome. And I'm happy.
Cheers. :D
I stumbled and tripped and eventually failed anatomy by 3 (three!!!!) points. Out of 550. That SUCKED. SUCKED. SUCKED. It still sucks. I'll need to remediate over the summer. Sucky.
I've spoken with a dean of student affairs and have contacted our learning center peeps for advice but haven't told anyone else (like family). I'm too embarrassed.
It was so frustrating; I honored every other course and even scored perfectly on the radiology final. I'm not stupid. I'm not. I swear. Three points!
I'm so happy to be in physiology. It's amazing how much easier it is for me to study. It's like a never-ending fountain of really cool, useful information. I can seriously lose hours chasing down information...
This semester is also bunches less isolating than last. I've finally found a small group of like-minded dedicated, irreverent and curious study partners. One of our assignments for the 'doctoring' course was to take a personality test. It turns out everyone in my study group is an INTJ. We're basically rational curious and pedantic people who don't do feelings. It's an awesome experience to meet up after lecture to argue with people about the role, if any, that plasma skimming has in the delineation of pulmonary zones. (you know... zones 1-3 and their ventilation efficiency). It reminds me of my high school physics class and the arguments of black hole gravitational forces that I'd have with my friends while playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (I was always a tree-climbing elf- FYI)... completely irrelevant to the required class material but so interesting...
So.. despite my sucky sucky nightmare of having to repeat anatomy... life is pretty awesome. And I'm happy.
Cheers. :D
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Homestretch with a Limp
I hate anatomy and I hate how my instructors are teaching it. Their personalities are fun and their talks can be really entertaining but they're incredibly sexist: 64 slides on the male lower abdomen and sexual organs, ONE slide on the female anatomy, not a single female specific anatomy part on our 'to find' list but 18 male specific anatomy parts and yes we do have female cadavers. I could go on and on with other examples***. I worry that it's not preparing us enough for the boards and clinical but more so I worry that this sort of sexism is pervasive throughout medicine and the course teaches for that.
This block has been tortuous. I've struggled to keep my motivation and bombed my first two exams. I need an 85% on our final to pass the course. I've been gunning the last couple of weeks because the idea of having to repeat this is about the worst nightmare I can think of right now. Besides, if I fail, I lose my scholarship thus costing me 60K. How's that for a perspective?
Last Friday, we had our 1st year radiology final. It was an independent study course that paralleled topics that we covered in our other classes. The game of identifying different structures on different films was awesome. I did well on it and it gave me some much needed confidence and motivation. Anatomy isn't medicine... Anatomy isn't medicine...
I have 4 more exams, including anatomy, in the next two weeks. Then, absolute, no guilt for not studying freedom.
*** Ok, one more example: 'fun' slides demonstrating aging included before/after photographs. For the male examples, we were given various faculty members and politicians. As women, we're expected to age like Sophia Loren and Madonna. ARGGHHHH! Seriously?????
This block has been tortuous. I've struggled to keep my motivation and bombed my first two exams. I need an 85% on our final to pass the course. I've been gunning the last couple of weeks because the idea of having to repeat this is about the worst nightmare I can think of right now. Besides, if I fail, I lose my scholarship thus costing me 60K. How's that for a perspective?
Last Friday, we had our 1st year radiology final. It was an independent study course that paralleled topics that we covered in our other classes. The game of identifying different structures on different films was awesome. I did well on it and it gave me some much needed confidence and motivation. Anatomy isn't medicine... Anatomy isn't medicine...
I have 4 more exams, including anatomy, in the next two weeks. Then, absolute, no guilt for not studying freedom.
*** Ok, one more example: 'fun' slides demonstrating aging included before/after photographs. For the male examples, we were given various faculty members and politicians. As women, we're expected to age like Sophia Loren and Madonna. ARGGHHHH! Seriously?????
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